Who Is He (And What Is He To You)
by GleeGeneration23
Summary: In which Emma Swan doesn't bounce around the foster system and is instead adopted. When she moves to Storybrooke her father comes with her creating all sorts of ripples. AU. Loose Timeline. Seasons 1-3. Pairings—Snow/Charming, Emma/Killian, Rumple/Belle and Regina/OC. No Outlaw Queen
1. Today Will Be Different

**Hi, so here is another OUAT story! This is another plot bunny that got started and then spiralled out of control. This is a story about what would have happened if Emma had gotten adopted rather than bouncing around the foster system. This story also introduces an OC.**

 **Also as I said in the summary there is no Outlaw Queen in this story rather a Regina/OC and this story goes to the end of Season 3 and then stops. All regular pairings are the same.**

 **In terms of using an OC face-cast for a young Jack Reynold's I choice Jesse Lee Soffer and for an older Jack Reynold's I choose Mark Harman but at the start of NCIS not at Season 15. Of course you can choose your own face-casts if you don't like mine but there you go.**

 **Also this is fiction and I am not American so any discrepancies with military or social services I apologise.**

 **Also I will say this at the start of this story. Spelling and Grammar is not my strong point.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine but Jack Reynolds**

 **This story should be thirty-three chapters long and I will try and update as soon as I can but with uni starting soon and work I'm not sure.**

 **Please Read and Review. All thoughts are welcome.**

* * *

Who is He (And What Is He To You?)

In which Emma Swan doesn't bounce around the foster system and is instead adopted. When she moves to Storybrooke her father comes with her creating all sorts of ripples. AU. Loose Timeline. Seasons 1-3. Pairings—Snow/Charming, Emma/Killian, Rumple/Belle and Regina/OC. No Outlaw Queen.

Chapter 1-Today Will Be Different.

Five year old Emma meets her new foster father. Jack Reynolds meets his second chance and years later Henry Mills meets his biological mother.

* * *

Boston

Lucy Snowden had been a social worker now for nearly ten years. There had been over the course of those ten years many children. Some had happy lives with their families, some muddled through and managed to move on when they turned eighteen. Some were not in a good way.

The first rule that they had taught Lucy when she had been training for her position was that you do not get attached with any children that you are trying to re-home.

Problem is Emma Swan is not your average child. Emma Swan is—well Lucy doesn't know what she is just yet but she knows Emma Swan is something special. She's barely five years old and has shown a knack for things that most children don't have when there fifteen. Emma Swan has ran away twice in the last six months and has been in more fights and scrapes with people and foster families than either side is willing to admit.

To be honest this is a Hail Mary. Lucy tries to tell herself (and Emma) that this time will be different but she doesn't know that and honestly this application half frightens her half intrigues her. The couple are newly married and interested in adoption or at least the mother is-the father was an active duty Marine the last Lucy heard of him. But a Marine base might be a good home for Emma, might give her some stability at the very least. There were comments about retirement but hopefully Emma is settled down before that becomes a major problem and either way if this family is right then all things should go smoothly.

The child in question is currently staring out of the car window as the trees past them by. She didn't say anything not even as they entered the street and Lucy honestly doesn't know if that means Emma is tired or if she's scared. The child is too difficult to read sometimes and she tries to ask her questions and keep her engaged but the conversation keeps falling flat.

Eventually they get to the house. It's a small house, a little wooden thing with a garden that looked like it hadn't been tended in a while but otherwise was mostly clean. Lucy knocks on the door and for a second nothing happens.

And then it opens.

The man is nothing like she expects. Marines looking to adopt are generally older, nearing retirement or have desk jobs. They are not mid twenties and look older than she does. This one is tall with stubble and wide green eyes. His hair is shaved on the sides but growing back on the top and he's wearing an old faded Marine T-Shirt and a pair of jeans that are rather loose on his hipbones. His hands are covered in grease.

Both Lucy and Emma stare at him.

"Mr Reynold's?"

"Captain" comes the reply.

"Captain Reynolds" Lucy amends. "I'm Lucy Snowden from Social Services? We spoke on the phone, well your wife and I did. This…"she pointed to the small child next to her "Is Emma Swan"

Captain Reynolds gaze goes from her to Emma and back again and then his gaze widens as if the final piece of the puzzle comes together. Then something strange comes across his expression. It's like he's wondering if he's ready to go to war and then the expression is gone like it was never there.

"Oh ok" he says "Come in"

The house is clean…ish…there was a pause where the two of them stood there and Lucy took in the photo's on the fridge and the food that was on a plate as well as what looked like half an engine. She could see no guns lying around but she was willing to bet there were some here and that didn't sit well with her at all.

"Is your wife here?"

Captain Reynolds snorted. "No…err…she left me…" he said finally.

Emma next to her shifts and Lucy can feel her hackles rising. She could not believe she had, had to give this little girl hope for it all to come to nothing. Perhaps something in her face gives away her fury because Captain Reynold's smirks once as if he knows what she's thinking.

"I still want to keep her if that's ok" he said finally. "Look Izzy…it wasn't a good time but now…I'm good to do this on my own. They gave me a desk job and soon enough my honourable discharge should be through and then I might go to the city. But I don't plan to skip town or anything. Me and Izz we agreed to do this together, just because she ran away doesn't mean I am"

There was a pause where she stood there, where all three of them looked at each other and then a small voice pipes up.

"You sure you want me? I've been told I can be difficult"

Emma's words stagger a little mostly on account of the thumb in her mouth but it's enough for the change to come over the Captain. The look on his face was softer than what she's been seen before and suddenly Lucy realises that the defensive posture that he had adopted when he had seen her was his basic approach to people, clearly not to Emma.

He drops into a crouch and tips a finger under her chin so that the blue eyes are looking into him.

"Yeah I want to keep you. And don't worry. I'm an Officer. I'm used to dealing with difficult."

Emma watches him for a second and then she turned to the mess that was on the kitchen table.

"What's that?" she asks and Lucy who was thinking the same was rather glad she had asked.

"That" the Captain says without turning "Is half of my car. I'm cleaning the engine and putting it back together. I used to fix the cars in the Marine's in Afghanistan. I can do it here too. It helps me think when I'm…struggling"

Emma doesn't ask what he's struggling with and Lucy nods her approval. This is not a perfect solution but Emma is not clinging to her leg like the last time and he doesn't seem to put the fear of God into her like the others have done either. Of course this is strange to say the least but…stranger things have happened and if this man can give Emma Swan her happy ending then…

"There's some paperwork you have to fill out" She says "Now that it's you and not you and your wife Captain. But I suppose if Emma wants to stay then who I am to stop it. If I could just see where you keep any weapons before we start…"

Emma's silent for a second. "What do I call you?" she lips finally. "Captain?"

"Fu—I mean no" the Captain changes tack like a shot with a rueful grin in her direction. She shakes her head at him but she cannot contain her smile. He looks years younger when he smiles she realises and Emma picking up on his grin, grins back at him probably guessing that he was about to say a naughty word.

"My name is Jack" he says finally. "And you can call me Jack for as long as you want"

Lucy nods to herself. Perhaps today for Emma Swan this will be different. Perhaps today she can get her happy ending.

* * *

Boston

Twenty-three years later Emma Swan was staggering back to her apartment clutching a cake box and wondering why the hell she was in full heals at this time of night. Honestly? Why had she not just got a cab rather than walking? What was it about Ryan's comment that had gotten to her. She did have a family. Well…she had a father.

As soon as she opened the door she deposited the box. Her Dad was coming up to Boston as soon as he could get a flight. He had been travelling to Texas where his ex-wife had been staying before she had died. The ex who Emma had never known had never remarried and had instead left Jack to deal with everything something which he had railed against until he couldn't. He had loved the woman once she supposed.

Inside the box however was a chocolate cupcake with white frosting—the kind that made your teeth hurt because it was so sweet. Emma paused looking at it. This was her little treat today. The little ritual she did when she was trying not to think about her parents, her biological parents who had abandoned her at the side of the road as if she was trash.

Tomorrow or perhaps later on in the week her Dad would be here and they would celebrate her birthday for real, the two of them.

Emma knew she had not been the easiest foster child to raise or adopt. Jack had, dealt with her mood swings, her running off at eighteen and her choice to put her son up for adoption. He had also had to put up with her prison sentence something which she was still ashamed off and blamed Neal entirely for.

Jack had also blamed him too and therefore it was easier for the blame not to fall entirely at Emma's door. That was no excuse but still…it had been a huge relief to know that she could come out of the biggest mistake of her life and still have the only family she counted support and understanding and love.

"Aint no more a saint than you are Emma" was all he had said.

Emma in turn had learnt to deal with Jack. Jack had been a marine until an IED had forced him into a desk duty and then early retirement. Some aspects of life over there he had refused to talk about but when Emma had been having nightmares about her old foster homes Jack had been having nightmares about his time overseas and when she had been little he had come to her or she had come to him and Jack's main method of coping was to eat toast drenched in butter at midnight or near enough and then working on his car engine. Emma would sip her hot milk and watch him until she fell asleep occasionally asking questions. Suffice to say she knew by the age of nine how to completely fix a car on her own.

She had also dealt with the addition of Reggie who was Jack's dog. He was one of those dogs that sniffed out bombs and Jack had brought him home one day and still refused to tell her what the story behind hm was. Reggie however had warmed to Emma and though the dog was getting on in years Jack never went many places without him. Some secrets they both had. He had never asked what had gone down with Neal or about the truth behind those watches after all. Emma had supposed she owed him some secrets as well.

It had been easier to learn things with Jack. Jack would let her do her own thing on her birthday but it was always takeout when she got home and whatever movie she wanted weather that was something from Disney or something from the Saw series. He had never pushed her to call her Dad either. Sometimes she did it and other times he was just Jack. But he was all Emma had. And she loved him for it.

She lit the candle on top of her cupcake and wondered when he would call. He had called this morning to wish her a happy birthday but he generally called her at night especially when he was away. She might be a grown woman of twenty-eight but the concern was still there and as she admitted to herself on more than one occasion that was more than she had ever got from her biological parents.

The thought of them still curdled her stomach into anger.

She blew out her candle, made her wish and then was startled by a knock on her door.

She paused. If it was Jack and he was that good then she might have to redefine her belief in magic.

But it wasn't Jack. It was a little boy. And that was when Emma's life turned to shit.

Again.

* * *

Storybrooke-Maine

Well Regina Mills was a piece of work.

Emma had spent a long time walking around after her confrontation with Regina. Henry…her son…had wanted her to stay. Weather or not she bought this crap about curses and enchanted lands or Evil Queens the fact of the matter was that her son wanted her to stay.

But did she want to?

Jack would have said she'd made her choice when she gave him up. And it had been her choice at the time because he had promised her his support if she wanted to take Henry home with them. He had promised her and for ten years she had been ok with her decision even though there was just a good of a chance Henry had been in the system. He wasn't. He had a big house and friends and a place to play and food on the table which is more than what she had, had. And more to the point regardless of how Regina was with her, there was no alarm bells going off in her head. She was a bitch that much was true but Emma wasn't entirely sure how she would feel if her son went missing twice in two days and brought home his biological mother with him. Evil certainly was a strong word for a ten year old to use.

Perhaps she should leave again. She had a life in Boston, something that she had worked hard for. She had a job, a steady income and a father that she loved very much. She was independent. Henry was a complication if she was being honest with herself. A complications she had given away to Regina a long time ago. What good would staying do to him? What good would staying do to her? Even if it was a week wouldn't it be harder for him if she stayed? How was she supposed to cleanly break away without hurting him?

It didn't help that he looked a lot like his father.

She thought about ringing her own father but a long time with Jack had taught her to know instantly what he was going to say. He was a firm believer in once you made a decision that you stuck to it and more to the point he would probably come down here to tell her that to her face. The last thing a quiet town like Storybrooke ruled by a force like Regina Mills needed was Captain Jack Reynolds of the USMC.

Though she had to admit the thought of him going up against Regina did make her smile.

But the crux of the matter was that Henry wanted her to stay.

She found herself at Granny's diner before she could stop herself. The waitress pointed her in the direction of a back door to the inn where she booked a room.

"A week" she said. And she repeated it over in her head. "Just a week" That was what she was giving Henry she told herself sternly. Then she was remaking her clean break.

"Name" the old woman said beaming at her.

"Swan…Emma Swan" she said finally. She still went by that name most of the time. She had never been sure if she wanted to give it up for Reynold's and Jack understanding her better at thirteen than she had understood herself had never asked her.

"Emma" Came a voice behind her. It sent shivers down her spine in a way that made her pause and she turned to see an older man standing there with a look so hard to read she didn't even want to try it. The sheer power however that radiated off him when she saw him made her want to shrink back.

She was not surprised that Granny paid him saying he owned the town. Mr Gold had a way of owning the world and she had only known him a few seconds.

She dumped her jacket on the bed and looked around. She was just staying here a week she said to herself as she brought out her phone and pressed call to the number that was always right at the top.

"Hey kiddo" Jack said down the phone. "Happy birthday for the second time today. I should be back within a week and then I promise you we can do whatever you want"

"Err Dad"

There was a pause.

"Oh what did you do?" Jack said ruefully. Emma grinned the happy feeling inside of her that she was still not used to refusing to go down. She bit her lip and then began to talk and somewhere in the distance she could hear as could her son, as could Mr Gold, the clock tower chime for the first time in twenty-eight years.

* * *

 **And there it is. Please let me know what you thought and I will try and start this story probably next time.**

 **Next Chapter-Emma adjusts to life in Storybrooke. Jack makes a decision. Regina consolidates her power. Meanwhile in a flashback Jack adjusts to being a father and Emma adjusts to having one. **


	2. One Door Closes

**Hi, so here is chapter two! I hope you all enjoy and thank you all so much for your kind words and your reviews and interest in this story from the first chapter.**

 **I know on this chapter summary it says Regina and Emma as characters and some people have been confused by this. This story IS NOT SwanQueen. Captain Swan is the pairing for Emma and Regina/OC is the pairing for this story but as the main characters especially in the first arc are Regina, Emma, OC (JACK) and Henry I have decided to add those characters to the story info. And I would just like to remind people in case you do not know that you are only allowed four characters per story to advertise.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine just the character of Jack.**

 **For any more info please see earlier chapters.**

 **Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You)

Chapter 2-One Door Closes

Emma adjusts to life in Storybrooke, Jack makes a decision, Regina consolidates her power. Meanwhile in a flashback, Jack adjusts to being a father and Emma adjusts to having one.

* * *

Storybrooke. Maine.

Henry was…happy that she was there. It was rather surprising because with the exception of Jack, Emma had never known anyone to be glad when she came home in the morning. Neal she deliberately never thought about because that memory was just too painful, so instead she focused on her boy even if she still didn't believe what he was spewing about curses and Evil Queens and posion apples and all sorts.

However Henry was so much her son in ways that she knew he had not inherited from Regina. Her son was good and kind and open to things in ways that normal children were not. And at first while she had thought that she was doing more damage than good but as the one week turned into two and two turned into moving in and making the arrangement a more solid thing.

The problem was it looked for all intents and purposes like she was moving to Storybrooke for the foreseeable future and she had not known how to break that idea to her adopted father.

Jack had taken the news that Henry had come looking for her pretty well. He had been a little shocked at how he had done it but had then laughed and muttered something about how that probably made him a good marine in the future…or something along that line.

But she had told her father (her adopted father—and if that was one thing he might sympathise with Regina about it was that) that it was only going to be a short term thing with a clean break attached to the end of it. Not only was that getting more and more disillusioned for both Emma and Henry as time went by the simple crux of the matter was, was that she didn't want to say goodbye.

All in all she had managed to get herself embroiled in another almighty mess and quite frankly she was running both out of excuses and explanations for her actions to Jack, Henry and more importantly herself.

Then there was also the rather charming Sherriff of this town, the feeling that something was decidedly not alright with this John Doe whose wife had just come out of nowhere scenario and the fact that she had most decidedly NOT been drink driving when she had crashed her car. Oh and of course who could forget the near baby farming operation Mr Gold had had running in which now involved her owing him a favour—something Emma Swan was sure was going to come back and bite her on the ass at some point in the not too distant future.

But each day she woke up and walked Henry to school and she found that she didn't care when he smiled at her and waved her goodbye. She wasn't his mother…she didn't know what she was but she knew deep down that as long as that kid—her kid—wanted her around then she would stay.

And again, that brought her full circle to the mess that she was in.

But then again…Graham had made that offer for a deputy for a reason hadn't he?

Perhaps it was something she should take him up on. And as Emma knew with a fond smile, the last time she had decided to take up roots had worked out rather well in her favour looking back…and that had not been an easy road to walk down.

"Just don't get too attached to him. Because you have to consider the fact that he has a mother and she's not going to let go of him so easily. I wouldn't have if I had ever been in her place" He had said it in such a matter of fact way that Emma had, had to pause and think for once about Henry's future before she continued her phone call with him.

But either way right now she was happy and with the prospect of a future in this town and with her son and a roommate for the first time and was loathe to give that up because her Dad—the closest thing she had ever had to family was (and rightly so) pointing out all of the things that could go wrong when this glass bubble she was in collapsed down around her.

But she didn't care. Emma Swan didn't care. Not as she walked Henry to school and she was given another one of those bright smiles from a kid who thought that she was in his corner. She might not know what to think about the whole curse and Regina being an Evil Queen in another life (though the evil part might be right after all) or the fact that her son thought her roommate was her mother, but she had not told Jack that because she knew he would say instantly that the kid needed to go back to Archie and not leave until the dream had gone.

Sometimes it was scary how much she knew her father and what he would say.

Other times it was a reminder that she had only one person (now perhaps more) who really cared if she lived or died.

She was stood on the sidewalk looking at the card that Graham had passed her when she decided. The last few things that she had done had ended up with one person dying and her ending up pregnant in Arizona in a woman's prision. Since then she had stuck to the conventional way of living and had tried not to go outside the box.

But she was going to do this.

And so she rang Graham and then she got herself a job.

And then of course she had to ring her Dad and tell him that she was moving to Maine. Yeah, Emma thought to herself grinning like an idiot in the middle of the street. That was not going to be pleasant.

Had she looked up she would have seen Regina Mills in her car looking at her as if she was the worst person in the world and she would have known that her decision to stay would have earnt her the worst enemy in the world. Regina was consolidating her power against a threat. The only thing was Emma Swan did not know then what kind of power she had.

Not really.

But Emma Swan had more important things to do than to worry about Regina Mills.

As soon as she could she was going to have to find her son, steal him away from his adopted mother and tell him about his grandfather.

* * *

Boston-Then

There was a child looking at him her legs swinging off the edge of the small table sucking milk through a straw. She had wide big eyes that were watching him as he tried to move his car engine away from the place he was obviously going to have to feed her some kind of food on later.

He opened the door to his fridge and mouthed a swear word so she couldn't see him. He had no food that wasn't beer or soup.

"Soup ok?" he asked sticking his head around the fridge again. "And then we can go and get some food if you like?"

The girl…no…Emma nodded once her blonde hair shifting over her shoulder and Jack nodded. This must have been the stupidest thing that he had done. And that included the time that he had enlisted on a whim when he had been half hungover and wondering what the hell he was going to do with his life.

Why the hell had Izz not told him that they were going to be adopting? Even when she had left him with a note that told him that she was tired being a Marine wife she had failed to tell him that she had arranged a child to appear on his doorstep who was watching him as if he was an IED about to explode in front of her.

Fuck.

Why had he done this again?

He shook his head as he pulled two cans of soup out of his fridge. "Mushroom ok?" he asked and he got another silent nod in return.

Emma didn't say anything all the way through their makeshift lunch but Jack did notice she ate with gusto as if she half expected the bowl to be wrestled from her. He paused watching her out of his eye. She bent her head and ate so quickly that he worried at one point she would burn her mouth.

Finally she looked up at him with those wide eyes. Jack thought for a second. There was a small bedroom with a desk and a bed but not much else and more to the point there was no sheets or paint in the room.

"Would you like to come with me and we can go do some shopping for food, sheets and paints for your new bedroom. I promise anything you want. Even if you want your room zebra colours"

That got a small giggle. Jack took a deep breath. He waited as Emma patiently got her coat and her shoes and then he opened the car door for her as she sat on the seat. Jack took stock of her sitting there her legs dangling over the seat and made a mental note to pick up one of those booster seats as soon as he could.

They made it to the store in silence but he didn't need to worry. Emma spent the entire journey with her nose pressed up against the glass watching and she got wide-eyed at the barriers to get onto and off the base. Thankfully Jack recognised the Private and after a quick conversation about bringing Emma in so she could be given an ID then drove off.

"Why do I need an ID?" She asked and Jack jumped. It was the first thing she had said since she had told him it was difficult.

"Well this is a base. Many Marine's are here and…well the security is so people feel safe. A lot of Marine's here have families and when they go to war it's easier if they know that the people the trust are protecting their families"

Emma paused mulling over that oversimplification and then nodding.

"Captain Jack?" she asked finally. Jack flinched slightly at the title.

"Jack kiddo, Jack"

"Well…can we have pizza tonight? Like the ones with cheese in the crust?"

Jack grinned. "Course we can kiddo"

Emma beamed and then looked down. With his perfect vision Jack let his own eyes drift down for a second too. He could see the bruise hidden under Emma's grubby looking sleeve and he had to look away least he crash the car and ruin everything as a hot surge of anger swooped through him.

She might not want to hear it now. Hell she might not even want to believe him but Jack was gonna make damn sure that nobody hurt this little girl again without coming through him. He might have only been in her company an hour or so but he knew enough to know that she was something else.

* * *

Texas Now.

Jack Reynolds retired USMC Captain but down the phone waited five seconds and then threw his empty glass across the wall so it shattered. Well it was one of his ex-wife's glasses and he found he didn't mind that it was shattering into pieces. This whole thing was unfair but that was neither here nor there compared to the bombshell his daughter had just dropped on him.

Her going to spend time with her biological son he could just get his head around. Just about. But this was really taking the biscuit. Moving in with him?

Emma had said this Regina woman was building up a powerbase and Jack honestly couldn't blame her. If Emma's mother had come back into her life when she had still been a child Jack would have probably thrown her in the car and gone for Canada.

She was making a mess of this Jack could see. Emma was a great woman and he was proud of how she had turned out he was but the fact of the matter was that she was listening to a ten year old and there was nobody she knew that would tell her when to pull back.

He poured himself another generous helping of scotch and considered what he was going to. His work here was done and all he had left to do was head home to Boston in the morning. He leaned back against the hard headboard of the hotel bed and thought about what to do. He had to think…he had to think…logically and analytically and try not to feel the itch of sand and the smell of death and smoke like he used to do when he thought like that.

Going of instinct had got him Emma. And Jack knew what his instinct was telling him to do before he even had his phone in his hand.

And…perhaps it might be nice to see his grandson. And God knows if this Regina woman was going to consolidate her power and she was as bad as Emma was saying and this Mr Gold person then Emma was going to need an army.

And Jack was Emma's army. That was the promise he had made to himself when he had taken her in over twenty years ago.

It looked like he was going to this—Storybrooke—after all.

* * *

 **And there you go. I hope you like it. Let me know what you think and I will endeavour to update as soon as I am able to. **

**Another reminder that 'NOW' next to a subheading means the current OUAT Storybrooke/Neverland/Enchanted Forest post first curse narrative that includes a grown up Emma Swan and 'THEN' is extracts from Emma's childhood with Jack or other flashbacks.**

 **Next Chapter-Jack comes to Storybrooke. Emma moves officially. Henry meets his grandfather (one of them) Gold is somewhat amazed and Regina is both furious and intrigued (even though she doesn't want to admit it) **

**Enjoy**


	3. Home Is Where The Fort Is

**Hi, so here is chapter three and this story is somewhat heating up. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I intend to publish at least one if not two more before I start uni and my updates become a bit more sporadic.**

 **While I am a huge fan of Emma I am also a huge fan of Regina and while she has done bad things I dont subscribe to the views that she should be blackened for the rest of her episodes on the show so therefore I do show Regina some of the benefit of the doubt in this story.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine just Jack.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You)

Chapter 3-Home Is Where The Fort Is.

Jack comes to Storybrooke, Emma moves officially. Henry meets his grandfather (one of them) Gold is somewhat amazed by the turn of events and Regina is both furious and intrigued (even if she doesn't want to admit it)

* * *

Storybrooke. Now

Emma was waiting for him when he crossed the line into Storybrooke. She had agreed to meet him when her son got out of school in the little diner known as Granny's. Jack had spent most of the drive trying to get Reggie to calm down. Long car drives did still not agree with his brother's dog and Jack who had once down forty eight hours driving in the desert with nothing but smoking, cold coffee and country music to sustain him had no trouble with the drive but his dog was whining something dreadful.

Finally he found a place to park took Reggie out of the car and pushed open the door to the diner.

There was one moment where he noted that everyone was looking at him. Once upon a time when his hair had not been turning grey and his gun was not so obviously on display and he had been in uniform he might have been amused. Now he was nearing the top end of fifty more than he would have liked and his back was aching and he had a German shepherd in one hand a box that contained a very long sniper rifle that he couldn't be without and he was too tired to care.

He sat down at the end of the bench noting with his vision the girl in red who was dressed like she was off to work a street corner, the man in black who was gazing at him with an expression of interest (and there was something about him that set Jack's teeth on edge without so much as a glance in his direction again) and an older woman whose eyes were on the box as if she was desperate to ask what was in it. Jack eyed her and then remembering the name of the place and taking into account the fact that she was standing behind the counter he decided to go for the plunge.

"Coffee black when you got a second and sugar when you have two" he said with a wink.

That snapped her back into action.

"Err…we don't allow dogs in here"

"Ah, then were going to have a problem. Considering that this dog is going with me regardless and I intend to take a room here. My daughter told me that this seems to be the only place in town that can host strangers"

There was another loud pause and then the man in black spoke.

"Daughter?"

"Emma Swan" Jack said turning to look him dead on in the eye.

The man choked on the coffee once he had recovered he looked Jack up and down and he was reminded once upon a long time ago of a drill instructor he had once known. There was a pause where they stared at each other as if taking in the measure of each other.

"Oh she's going to love this" the man said and then without another word and probably without paying for the coffee he exited. Jack watched him go with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm gonna go with a shot in the dark here and say that's Mr Gold" he said finally. The older woman looked at him and then nodded sliding across a coffee. He dumped his four sugars in it and drank two gulps. Since his time in the corps he had always took his coffee this way since back then it had kept him awake when needed it. He caught the man next to him staring and he shrugged. "Old Marine habit" he said. "Keeps sleep away"

"Oh" the woman said brightening immediately. "Is that why you have a dog? Because Regina…I mean Madam Mayor might accept that…it's my permit you see. You have to have one if you have a pet and…"

Jack snorted his coffee out. A pet permit? Ok now he understood where Emma was coming from when she said he had to see this woman up close to believe that she even existed.

"Don't worry about Reg love. He used to sniff the bombs out over there. I guarantee you that he's trained. A little too much sometimes. And as for Regina well I think I can handle her"

"Oh boy" the man said next to him where he had been feeding Reggie his bacon. "That's just all we need. Another one of them. Regina's best left alone. Told Emma Swan that when she was arrested for drink driving"

Jack rolled his eyes his mind working furiously. She had neglected to tell him that and he knew expunged or not Emma had a record. What the hell was she doing in this place anyway. Something must be off. Hell his instincts were telling him to take Emma and run and he had only been here three or four minutes.

The door opened then however and he found he did not have to ask any more questions because Emma came in. Jack could see the change in her instantly. Gone was the look of the girl who had been abandoned too many times and there was something healthy about her that he suspected had something to do with the dark haired kid at her side whose eyes were on him in an instant.

Jack took her hug and squeezed her tight still eyeing the kid with one eye. He looked like Neal. Damn. The very word made him angry. He had spent two years near as damn it cleaning that man's mess up and here was the living proof. He didn't begrudge the kid his parentage anymore than he begrudged Emma's but he couldn't help but admit even to himself he had been hoping the kid looked more like his mother than his father.

"Dad" Emma said in a tone she had not used since she had ran him for bail money. "I am so glad you're here" There was something in her tone that made him wonder how many battles she had been fighting against this kid's adoptive mother and he made sure to hug her back.

"Don't worry kid I'm here" he said pulling back. "You look good" he said smiling at her because that was the truth she did look good. In fact she looked better than good, she had always been beautiful (though perhaps he might have been biased as her father) but she looked content here. He might have gotten it wrong he thought to himself. Perhaps the move had been good for her.

Hell she had surprised him before.

He turned to look the kid dead in the eye. Yeah he was Neal's son alright. Same hair, same stance. He had only met Neal once and that was when Emma had introduced him and told Jack something about a plan to go to Tallahassee that sounded half insane and half thought about. That had ended up with Jack getting a phone call at midnight from Emma, three days it had taken for him to get the full story. Emma had taken a deal rather than her chances and had got a reduced eighteen months sentence rather than the three years the DA was going for. Neal had fucked off but not before giving Emma this kid.

Either way Jack was not happy with the man.

"Hello" he said holding out his hand. "My name is Jack."

He could feel Emma's eyeroll but honestly he wasn't sure how to introduce himself to the kid. Emma's son.

"Hi" the kid said back grinning. And suddenly Jack didn't have to worry about him because when he smiled like that he looked a lot like Emma. He was Emma's son when he smiled and that was enough for him.

"I'm Henry"

Jack had to swallow harshly. He knew Emma had not named the kid, hell she hadn't even looked at him. She had turned her head into his chest and started sobbing and Jack had only been allowed to hug her because he was pretty convinced he had scared the warden of the prison shitless. Emma had not intentionally named the kid after his dead brother and Reggie's handler and neither had this Regina woman. There was a pause where he stood there and then he took the kid's outstretched hand as he tried to shake off old memories.

"Nice to meet you Henry"

He had never told Emma about his brother and judging by the way she was gazing adoringly at her kid she had not noticed Jack's slip up. Reggie responded by licking Henry and Emma let out another shout of delight as she bent to pet the dog.

"Oh and this is Reggie" Jack said to Henry. "This is my dog"

Honestly that was about as much as he could say. He was really getting too old for Emma to throw these kinds of surprises at him.

"What are you doing bringing him here?" Emma asked as Henry bent to feed Reggie some leftover bacon that the other man who was still grumpily staring at his coffee turned to give him without a second glance.

"I brought him here because I decided I was tired of big city. And I wanted to be close to my beautiful daughter didn't I? Also I got a chance to meet my new grandson and spend some time with peace and quiet."

"You might have moved to the wrong place Grandad" Henry said and oh—that was going to take some getting used to. And not in the good way.

"Wait until I tell you about the curse"

Emma's little realise of air at that told him all that he needed to know.

* * *

Regina had been walking to Granny's anyway (because where else would her son be when it came to that woman) when she overheard it.

"Yes that's right, a stranger. Emma Swan's father"

She stopped dead nearly colliding with whichever one of those pesky fairy nuns she had overheard.

Emma Swan had a father who was currently trapped in a loveless marriage (and when Regina put thought into her work it really did turn out even better than she could have hoped for). And strangers did not walk into her town.

She quickened her pace.

It wasn't hard to see who the new arrival was when she opened the door.

He was…well…there was no shame in denying it Regina was capable of noticing it after all…very attractive. He had dark hair that was greying and lines around his green eyes but he was built strong and tall and there was something about him that made her pause. This was a man who was used to getting his own way, who was used to taking charge. This was the man who had raised the force that was Emma Swan—this Regina speculated was not a man that was going to be easily intimidated.

And he had a dog.

Fabulous.

"Henry" she said pasting on a rather forced smile (she noted Emma Swan doing the same thing) "I was wondering where you were. Miss Swan." She turned to the man. "I don't know you" she said bluntly. "Regina Mills, Town Mayor. Henry's _mother_ "

And if she stressed the last word then who was anyone to know.

The man leaned back and looked her up and down as she was a threat and a challenge all at once. Regina felt her muscles lock into place as a fire came to her belly. It had been a long time since she had been looked at like that.

"Jack Reynolds" he said finally. "Emma's adoptive father" he held out a hand and she shook it rather surprised at herself for being so open about it.

"Pleasure" she said dryly. Not because she wanted but because her throat was dry. Damn spring weather. She ignored the sensible part of her brain telling her it was actually autumn.

And the moment was ruined by the dog putting his paw on her Italian leather boot.

"And this is Reggie" Jack Reynolds said. "He's going to be staying with me while I look for a place to live"

Regina raised an eyebrow. "You intend to stay here?" she asked and she couldn't hide the disbelief in her tone this time. Emma grinned. Henry grinned. Somewhere Gold was laughing his ass off the little imp.

"Yeah" Jack Reynolds gave a wonderfully crooked smile. "And I'm gonna keep my dog with me if it's all the same to you"

There was a politeness to his tone that threatened something else and while it made her bristle there was something about this man that told her she wanted to know more about him before she went to war with him. Emma Swan it seemed was building her army just as she was.

She cast the other woman a look out of the corner of her eye and she had to admit that it was a smart move.

A very smart move.

Regina did not say he could not keep the dog at Granny's. She should have but she was tired today. Snow White was flitting around the place, Henry once again had made it clear that he hated her at breakfast, she had woken up missing Daniel more than ever before and Emma Swan was in her face with her adoptive father and Regina's son clearly hanging off every word. Regina today did not have the energy to plot to destroy Jack Reynolds. All she wanted to do was go take a long bath, read a good book and go to sleep.

"Alright" she said finally. She had no energy left but she noted Henry looked shocked.

"But" she said leaning forwards her hands on the table so that she and the man were face to face. "Make no mistake Mr Reynolds. That is the last favour I am ever going to give you"

Jack Reynolds flicked his green eyes up and down her again and this time there was something in his eyes Regina had not seen in a man's eyes for a long time.

Interest.

It…it unseated her somewhat and she pulled back standing to her fullest height. Jack Reynolds made no effort to move.

"Of that Madam Mayor, I have no doubt" and then he was turning to the menu and Regina knew that even if she forced it she would get nothing out of him tonight.

"Oh" he said not looking up. "It's Captain by the way Miss Mills. Captain Jack Reynolds of the United States Marine Corps in case you were wondering"

"Henry come home now" she said in a tone that once had one of her black knights pissing himself and weather it was in fear or shock (and Regina couldn't care less to be honest) her son obliged, hugging Emma and waving goodbye to Jack.

Regina slammed the door to the diner shut and took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

Yes, she needed a strong scotch.

And perhaps a session of baking would do her some good.

Tomorrow she would do battle. All would be well in her world.

* * *

Emma watched as the door closed before she turned around.

"You won" she said unable to keep herself from grinning.

"Did I?" Jack said still looking at the menu. "Should I get the waffles do you think?"

"Dad you won" she repeated. "You got Reggie to stay with you in spite of Regina's rules. That's big when you think about how she's been ruling this town with an iron fist for as long as anyone can remember. What did you think of Henry?"

"Engaging fellow. This curse thing is strange. Looks a lot like his father"

Emma nodded. She had been expecting all three. Jack looked up at her.

"Don't worry Em. I'm here now, I can be your army against…that rather interesting woman…and I can deal with Neal's son, I can even deal with this curse stuff that he's talking about which I think is rubbish but what do I know…"

"Dad" she said trying to put into words what it meant to have him here on her side moving his whole life around for her again.

Jack looked at her. Her Dad looked at her and smiled once his eyes very warm.

"I know Emma. I love you too"

* * *

 **And there it is, I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Next Chapter-Tragedy strikes Emma and the town of Storybrooke. Jack has an interesting encounter with his grandson, his daughters roommate and with Regina Mills all in the same day. Regina finds herself in a moment of weakness. **


	4. Goodbye, Farewell And Amen

**Hi, so here is another chapter. This one is covers the death of Graham, and a flashback as we move more into Season 1. Some parts will be skipped over as this story is AU but I will try and keep it as real to the narrative as I can.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review and I will try and do one more chapter before uni and irregular updates.**

 **And let me know what you think.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 4-Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.

Tragedy strikes Emma and the town of Storybrooke. Jack has an interesting encounter with his grandson, his daughter's roommate and Regina Mills all in the same day. Regina finds herself in a surprising moment of weakness.

* * *

Boston-Then

The phone call gets him up out of bed in an instant. He has no idea what the hell Emma is doing by saying that she wanted a year after High School by herself and how that turned into two with only sporadic phone calls to remind him that his daughter is still alive. But he's a marine by trade and even though it's December and he's cold and he knows that Emma wouldn't be ringing this late he's up out of bed and answering the phone before he can stop himself.

"Dad?" And that is the first killer because Emma only ever calls him that when she's in some serious shit.

"Em?"

"I need your help. Neal he…he ran off and I'm in jail"

Jack closes his eyes and tries not to both laugh and cry whatever comes first. He should have known this would happen eventually. Emma and that boy…well instincts tell him enough and he only meet him once.

A part of him, the selfish part of him that rowed with Emma when he told him this boy was no good, that he was never going to be the right man for her and that something like this would happen wants to make her stew a bit. It's four AM and even if he could get to where she is It's not like he can do anything until the morning when the judge comes to court. Even then he can only pay her bail.

But the other part of him that made a promise to a little thin blonde girl with bruises on her arm that looked at him as if she didn't know weather or not he was going to send her back for being too much trouble remembers the promise he made her that day. That no matter how much trouble she was he wouldn't abandon her like her own biological parents had done. That part of him knew he couldn't let her down now no matter what she had done.

"Where are you Em?"

She sobs over the phone as the reality sets in and Jack gets to his car feeling the urge to find Neal Cassidy and show him what happens when you hurt Marine's whole worlds. Even if he has ran off there is going to be a reckoning between this man and Jack and he knows he isn't going to be the one to fall.

He looks forwards to it already.

But first he has to go and collect and help and protect his emotional, hysterical and broken hearted daughter.

That's the promise he made. That's the one he's gonna stick to no matter what she does. After all what are Dad's for?

* * *

Storybrooke. Now.

His cell rang and Jack swore rolling over. He had been in worse places to sleep including the floor with nothing but sand as a pillow and snatches of sleep in the back of a Humvee but this was shaping up to be in the top ten places that would kill his back.

Granny's Bed and Breakfast was clean and the woman had a soft spot it seemed for dogs and had given Reggie some liver that he had enjoyed a bit too much in Jack's opinion and a room that was clean and overlooking the forest.

He had been sleeping. He checked caller ID and sat upwards when he saw Emma's name. What the hell was she doing calling him at this time at night? Especially because they now only lived a small walk away from each other. What the hell had gone wrong now?

"Em this had better be good" He said sitting up.

"It's Graham" she said and there was something in her voice that made him pause. Emma had never sounded like that before, like the world had been ripped out from under her. Sure there had been a couple of times where he had heard her wobble a bit when it came to Neal Cassidy and the havoc he had raised but she had never sounded so much like a lost little girl as she had done so in that moment.

"Your boss?" Yeah that was the man. He had only seen him in passing, some rugged looker who should have been on the set of some movie. Talk about not your typical cop.

"Yeah he…err…he died. They say his heart gave out. Dad…one minute we were kissing and the next he was collapsing on top of me and I don't know what to do…he died in my arms"

And then she collapsed into tears.

"Emma" he said down the phone in his best officer's voice the kind that had picked up more than a few kids in his time in uniform after a hit and got them back to work. "Emma where are you right now?"

"Hospital. I rode with him but…there was nothing they could do"

"Ok, I'm coming to meet you ok? Stay there"

Emma nodded or he liked to think she nodded and then hung up the phone.

He was already reaching for his jeans before the dial tone hit.

Emma was at the hospital when he arrived. He could see her a mile off, her blonde hair was a mess and she looked like she was one breath away from falling apart. The second she saw him however she leapt up from her seat and hugged him. The force of it knocked his breath sideways. Emma was not what you would call the hugging type. Never had been. But then again neither had he.

There was a man sitting next to her. He was blonde and well muscled like he had worked in some form of labour for a long time and he looked ill at ease. Emma pulled back wiping her eyes on the back of her hand and then turning to the man.

"Dad this is David Nolan. David Nolan this is my adoptive father Jack Reynolds. David called the ambulance for me when he arrived at the station to see if Graham wanted a beer" her voice became slightly choked before she broke off. David Nolan stood up, he had rather bright eyes and there was something about him that reminded Jack of Emma when she was a kid. It was strange. But then again everything in this town was strange when a man who was mid twenties suddenly keeled over for no good reason and was dead before he hit the floor.

"Thanks for being there" he said holding out his hand because to be fair to the other man he didn't have to stay with Emma until he arrived. David Nolan smiled and wow he had nice teeth.

"Don't worry about it Mr Reynolds. Honest, Graham was a good person."

There was the sound of running heals and then Regina Mills was there. She shot Emma a poisonous look and then she turned to the doctor. The woman behind her had short cropped hair blushed when she saw David Nolan who had suddenly become very interested in the ceiling fan and then hugged Emma.

"Oh Emma. I was so worried when you called. Oh God. Poor Graham"

Jack blinked. She was very…chipper…for four in the morning he noted.

"Mary Margaret this is my adoptive father Jack. Dad, my new roommate and Henry's teacher Mary Margaret Blanchard."

Jack nodded feeling a headache coming on. He had no idea what had happened and he had idea what to make of all of these people that he was meeting but he did notice the look Regina Mills shot his kid. It was half calculation, half hate that went he thought beyond what you might typically feel towards your son's biological mother. There was something about that woman. Jack didn't think Henry was in danger but as for Emma…well he would admit that he was glad he was here sooner rather than later.

* * *

Henry had been sat at his castle kicking the ground moodily. Ok. So his mother had won the Sherriff's position. And he supposed he would be sad if his other mother evil or not had been burned alive by Mr Gold who was still as confusing as ever and not easy to see in the book. It was like whenever Henry tried to look for him he disappeared. Like magic. Well…it was magic but that was beside the point.

There was a bit of good in this world but not much. His Mom would play dirty and Emma wouldn't.

"Kid is it safe up there?"

He looked down to see Jack…no his grandpa standing there eyeing the castle with distrustful eyes. Henry nodded clutching the book to him as his grandpa climbed to the edge. He didn't dangle his legs off they touched the ground but he could at least see what Henry was looking at.

"You know the view aint half bad here you know" he said looking around. "Can see why you like it. Lots of places to think and breathe in the air and not smell smoke"

"Why would I smell smoke?" Henry asked. His granddad shook his head smiling sadly. "Old Marine thing" he said finally.

"I thought you'd be with Emma. She won for you by the way. She wanted to make you proud of her, seems a pretty poor way to repay her sulking here"

"I'm not sulking" Henry immediately defended himself. "I…I don't know what to do about the curse. Evil keeps winning"

"Oh boy kiddo and I thought Emma had some issues"

"You don't believe me. Emma doesn't believe me. Nobody believes me!" he cried.

"Of course nobody believes you" Granddad said looking at him.

"Would you believe you if you heard your story?"

That was…that was…oh that was a point.

"This world kiddo, it aint kind. Lots of evil that doesn't come in the form of Queens or whatnot. Trust me I've seen it. I've watched men die who had families and loved ones, I've seen kids younger than you clutch their parents bodies. Evil is out there doesn't have to be in some curse. And even if what you say is true then even if you break this thing it doesn't mean your Mom isn't going to be defeated overnight. And good people can do bad things. God knows I have. You think good cannot kill? I made a career out of it, I wasn't even a regular solider, I fixed the cars up but I had a weapon and I have blood on my hands in more ways than one I can assure you."

"That's different" Henry said thought he wasn't sure how.

His granddad gave him a slow long smile that told him that he knew it wasn't but he didn't elaborate even though Henry had to admit he was curious.

"Why don't you just enjoy the small victories when they happen? Go find Emma, congratulate her on what she's won and call it a day. You can always overthrow evil tomorrow"

Well…Henry was hungry.

"You'd make a good knight you know?"

"Well I made a damn good officer and there wasn't much difference I can assure you."

Henry jumped down brushing dirt of his trousers. Jack disembarked a bit more gracefully.

"So…out of curiosity who are my daughter's parents in this alternate world of yours?"

"Snow White and Prince Charming…otherwise known as Mary Margaret Blanchard and David Nolan"

His granddad stared down at him for a second. "Of course they'd be younger than me" he said grinning. Henry couldn't help but grin back.

* * *

Jack had just exited the diner the next morning for his run when he saw Regina Mills walking towards the door.

"How's the ankle?" he called. She turned and then after a second or two probably at war with herself she managed a small smile.

"Good"

"You alright?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You care?"

"Weather I like you or not I've seen enough fires and smelt enough smoke to know what it can do to a person Miss Mills" he said seriously. Regina swallowed for a second and then she straightened herself.

"I'm fine Captain"

"Ok"

Her eyes flashed at him, Jack grinned. Playing with fire though he might be he couldn't deny that he enjoyed getting a rise out of this woman.

"Captain" she said as if she was war with himself. "My son seems to like you so I will tell you this and if you tell anyone it came from me I will kill you. Graham's house is about to go for sale. If you wanted to make an offer"

Jack winked at her in response. Regina rolled her eyes slamming the door of the diner shut as she walked through it.

He wanted to ask if Henry was right about her killing the man who had died. He wanted to ask if she was really evil. He wanted to ask a lot of things actually. That was…different for him…

He shook his head starting to run, a good eight mile run would clear his head and he would come back and look at that house and forget all about curses and good versus evil and the woman that was at war with his daughter over a kid that believed that his teacher was his grandmother.

It was better that way he told himself. Much better that way.

* * *

 **And there it is. Hope you all enjoy and I will try and have an update for you as soon as possible.**

 **Next Chapter-Emma confronts her scarred past, Mary Margaret must deal with her feelings for a married man. Gold and Jack have a run in and in a flashback Emma and Jack try to adapt to their new relationship a bit more when both of them have nightmares.**


	5. Frenemy

**Hi, so here is another chapter I hope you all enjoy and I will try and endeavour to have the next chapter up sooner rather than later.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.**

 **And as I have always said spelling and grammar is not my strongest suit so any inaccuracies I apologise.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 5-Frenemy

Emma confronts her scarred past. Mary Margaret must deal with her feelings for a married man. Gold and Jack have a run in and in a flashback Emma and Jack try to find a way forwards when it becomes clear they both have nightmares.

* * *

Storybrooke. Now.

It wasn't that Storybrooke wasn't a nice town. It was. It was quite there were no loud noises and no huge crowds of people around that made it impossible to think or breathe sometimes like New York and Boston and it wasn't like Henry wasn't a charming little boy who Emma clearly loved. It wasn't even the fact that he looked so much like Neal that made him stay awake at night even as he moved into a dead man's house and became a part of a town he had never known existed until two months ago.

It was this dratted curse crap. Ever since he had heard about it he had not stopped thinking about it. He knew it was ridiculous of course but there was something in the very air that Storybrooke was built around that clogged up his throat sometimes and set his instincts honed by nearly half of his life in the Marines to sky high proportions.

Ever since Henry had told him that his daughter was the daughter of her roommate and a ex-comatose, married dog handler he had found himself unable to sleep. Regina Mills as the Evil Queen was something even more unfathomable. He would admit that Regina Mills was difficult and her parenting style was slightly more borderline drill sergeant than Emma's own, give Henry whatever he wanted so he will hang around more approach-but Evil was a very strong word. Henry was ten. Ten year olds did not wake up one morning read a book and then decided that their mothers were evil. Not even the love-child of Emma Swan and that terminal idiot Neal Cassidy if that had even been his real name (because Jack had been looking for him whenever he was feeling particularly vengeful). The only person in this curse concocted by his grandson that he believed shouldn't be trusted with a ten foot bargepole was Mr Gold.

Jack had been reading on his laptop when the man had come into the diner looking around as if he owned the place. More to the point Reggie at his feet had let out a low growling sound and that more than anything was enough to get Jack to believe that there was something off about this man. Reggie was a war dog through and through and if there was something about the man who spent most of the morning shooting rather interesting glances at him then Jack was going to believe it. He trusted his brother and Reggie had been his dog.

"Good morning Captain" Mr Gold said as he exited the door another strange look on his face. "My regards to your daughter and grandson"

Jack nodded feeling his teeth grit together. It was a harmless throw away conversation between two men and yet there had been something about the other man that had made him straighten, sit up and put his entire body on a threat alert. He had never done that he noted as his body uncoiled—not even when Emma had been in prison. He had not been that tightly wound up since the last tour he had been on.

He sat there thinking about Mr Gold for a long time and wondered if perhaps Regina Mills was not a threat to Emma as much as this man was.

And that was the least of his worries. Having been woken up at the crack of dawn since he was eighteen he had been in the diner drinking his coffee when he saw the most sickening passive-aggressive flirting between David Nolan and Mary Margaret Blanchard that he had ever seen (and he had raised a teenage girl—Emma had in her teens not been immune to the occasional puppy dog eyes).

Less than two seconds later Emma herself came through the door grabbing her coffee and then smiling as she took a seat opposite him in the booth.

"You know" Jack said as he turned his laptop to the side so Emma could get to his bacon. "He is married Emma. I can see it because I'm me but sooner or later everyone else is and that kind of relationship only ends one way"

Emma chewed her bacon. "She's my friend" she said and there was something in the way she said it that made Jack's overworked, hyperactive brain slow to a stop. He couldn't remember the last time that Emma had ever told him she had, had a friend and he certainly couldn't remember any look on her face like the one she had right now.

"I know" he said trying to hide his smile. "But your friend is…your friend is in trouble Emma…I don't judge people for what she's doing or certainly what I imagine she's thinking about doing but a lot of people in this town will. This is a small town with small minded people and she's teaching half of their children"

"Jack have you ever thought you watch too much lifetime?"

Jack shot her a look. Emma sighed. "I'll try and talk to her. See where her head is at. Ok?"

Somehow Jack didn't see that doing anything but he let it go. If Emma was happy here and she wasn't screwing up her own life then he supposed it wasn't any buisness of his what her roommate was doing. He took a breath and then turned back to his laptop. The meeting—hell it was not even that—the conversation with Gold was throwing him off his game. There was something about that man that he couldn't put his finger on but he scared the shit out of him more than Regina ever could. He flipped his spoon around in his hand and then took a swig of his now rapidly cooling coffee.

"So…what's the deal with this Mr Gold?" he asked hoping he was causal about it.

Emma laughed once her tone bitter. She shook her head her blonde curls flying over her jacket.

"That's one hell of a story"

Jack smiled to put her at ease but he knew it didn't match either his eyes or his mood. He snagged another piece of bacon.

"Try me"

* * *

Ava and Nicholas had gone home to their father. Or to someone willing to be their father at least for the time being. Jack had been busy for most of the day and night while Emma had been working on this case. He had been trying to find a car part online but considering Jack liked cars and wanted to work around them Emma knew it was only going to be a matter of hours before her father found out that she had hid two children and pretty much guilt shamed the local mechanic to take them in.

Jack carefully and rather cleverly didn't wait for her to tell him. He had heard about it she was willing to bet from Henry who heard about most things and had Jack's number or she suspected Regina who never resisted the opportunity to stick the knife in when it came to Emma and her job and life in this town.

Instead he let her come to him. Emma suspected it was a bad day for him. She had never pressed her adoptive father about what he had seen while he had been in the service but she had seen the haunted, deadened look around his eyes too many times. Graham's house was a nice, neat two bedroomed semi and Jack had clearly taken apart what looked like half of Graham's car all over the living room floor. The bottle of bourbon was still on the side of the table and it wasn't hard to find the man sat leaning against the wall Reggie's head in his lap in the dark.

Emma flicked on a light and then sat down next to him.

"I heard about the twins" he said finally. "Did you ever think that maybe their mother ran away from their father for a reason or did you just see what you wanted to see…"

Emma sighed.

"I saw a man who never had a chance to know his children throwing them away because he didn't think that he could be a dad."

Jack closed his eyes for a second and then opened them.

"And you thought of yours?"

"I never think of mine" Emma lied. Jack gave her a half smile which told her he knew about the lie but had decided to ignore it for whatever reason it made him feel better.

"I know you don't approve of me being in Henry's life" she said finally. Jack shook his head.

"It's not that Emma it's not. I had a feeling that if the kid came looking for you you'd go, it's not even this battle you claim you have between yourself and Regina it's…look maybe I'm biased because of you and maybe I don't know because your parents didn't come looking for you but I do get where Regina is coming from. Henry when he talks about that curse is not an easy child to raise and you do indulge him. You don't honestly believe that it's true do you?"

Emma shook her head. "I know it's not true and I indulge him because Regina has the whole town thinking he's insane and I don't want him to think that I don't believe him. Weather I do or not…can you honestly tell me that you don't think that there is something strange happening in this town?"

Jack laughed.

"No I agree with you there but…Emma I think the kid needs help and you have to consider the possibility that Regina might know him better than you, what I'm asking is…can you walk away if it's best for him? Because it might be"

Emma dithered unsure of what the answer would be.

"Could you have walked away from me?" she asked finally.

"No" Jack said without hesitating. "No I couldn't have walked away from you. But in my defence Emma I was not the biological parent and you did not believe in fairy tales. But had your biological parents turned up then I would have made damn sure I controlled everything. Regina's got a very real fear that I understand…even if you don't"

Emma…well…she had never thought of it that way. She looked down at Reggie.

"He's getting old" she commented Jack took the change of subject in his stride.

"Yeah he is" he said finally. "I worry about him. Don't know what I'd do without him."

"Actually go on a date?" Emma asked grinning teasingly. Jack grinned at her wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. The haunted look had not gone from around his eyes but he looked more happier than she had ever seen him. Emma took that one for the win.

* * *

Boston-Then

It was the slamming that woke her up. Something slamming against the door of something and Emma Swan shot up out of bed the sheets sticking to her as she suddenly became aware that—not for the first time she had wet the bed at the age of five.

She knew what to do. She ripped the sheets from the bed and took them to the bathtub. She ran the tap and then dumped the sheets in them. She might not be able to sleep and she would sleep on them wet for many weeks but her old foster father had been so horrible when he had found out that she had learnt to grin and keep up with the events that happened.

"What are you doing?" came a voice and she turned to see her…Jack…Captain Reynolds standing there looking at her with a raised eyebrow. His hands and wrists were covered in something that smelt and looked like oil and he was in a pair of loose sweats and a old shirt with USMC written on it.

"I'm sorry" Emma cried before she burst into tears. "I can fix it, I promise you I just…" she shook her head and turned back to the sheets. Jack followed her gaze and then he sighed heavily.

"Ah. Emma…you can let go of those sheets. I have a washer and dryer downstairs and if you want you can sleep in my bed until I get yours clean?"

Emma blinked not daring to believe that things were this simple. Never in five years had things been this good for her.

"Your not mad?"

Captain Reynolds looked at her. "Should I be?"

"But…everyone else is"

Captain Reynolds jaw clenched menacingly.

"Ah…well I aint everyone Emma. So why don't I get you one of my old shirts and you can go back to sleep"

"I'm not tired" Emma argued and then looked down. It did no good to argue with foster fathers. She sat down and didn't look up as she felt the Captain sit down next to her and wrap an arm around her.

"Nightmares?" he asked. Emma nodded peeping up at him through her lashes.

"You?" she asked.

Captain Reynolds…Jack…paused for a second and then nodded.

"Something like that. You don't wanna go to sleep next?"

Emma shakes her head. Jack nods looking around the small bathroom.

"You wanna help me put back together half a car engine. I've still gotta connect some wires. Could use some small hands if your up to it. And you know what?" He checked his watch. "How about instead of a midnight feast a two AM feast? Pizza? God knows I'm making this up as I go along?"

Emma grinned.

"Can we get the cheesy crust?"

Jack grinned at her. "Sweetheart you read my mind"

Emma grinned back.

Perhaps Captain Reynold's was gonna be different after all.

* * *

 **And we end there, I hope you enjoy.**

 **Next Chapter-Emma is suffered a setback when it comes to her and Henry's relationship. Jack takes a stand against both Regina and Gold and the town finds out about Mary Margaret and David's affair. **


	6. Games People Play

**Hi, so here is another chapter, this one is shorter and the following ones will be a bit shorter as there are eleven chapters per arc and only five more to go of Season 1. As I am back at uni please be aware that there might be more gaps in between updates. And some chapters might jump around different episodes as we near the end so please keep that in mind.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine just the character of Jack Reynolds.**

 **And I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Who Are You (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 6-Games People Play

Emma is suffered a setback when it comes to her and Henry's relationship. Jack takes a stand against Regina and Gold and the town finds out about Mary Margaret and David's affair.

* * *

"I told you not to lose your temper around Regina Mills, Emma." Jack said finally. He had not been at that town meeting, instead he had been in his new house trying to rebuild his car from scratch. One of the great things he would admit for a small town was that it was so small he could run just about anywhere and it not be something that would tire him out. He sighed looking around his house and the hole that Emma was currently pacing around in his hallway.

"She's taking my son away from me" Emma growled. Jack sighed over his prop shaft that he was rebuilding. It was pointless to explain to Emma whenever she was in this mood that she had been the one to take the fight to Regina. That it had been her that had accused Regina with no proof (and Sidney Glass was in his opinion nothing but a shoddy journalist embroiled in fake news, propaganda and God only knows what else) and that more to the point Henry was not her son. While the boy might have a preference for Emma over Regina he was still in legal terms Regina's son and Emma had very little grounds to take him back.

"Emma she is well within her rights to tell you to stay away and she is also right—after the stunt that you pulled she will and is going to get a restraining order against you like snapping her fingers even if she doesn't have a judge in this town in her pocket. And what the hell were you doing confronting her with nothing more than a plan and the word of a madman like Gold? Surely to God I taught you better than that?"

There was a pause where she stood there watching him and then Emma snorted and started pacing around and Jack turned back to the machine in his hand. He took a deep breath as Emma threw her hands up in the air and her anger was slowly turning to grief as she got more and more hysterical—and the knowledge that she had lost her son and that her worst enemy was winning.

"Em" he said gently. "Come here"

Emma moved towards him as if she was still that lost little five year old and she moved to drag a chair to the table resting her head on his shoulder. There was a pause as she rested her head on him for a time and Jack pretended that he didn't feel her crying.

"He's my son" she said finally. "He's my son and she's taking him away from me. This is a game to her and I don't know how to outplay her."

Jack kissed her on the top of her blonde head and didn't have the heart to tell her that in reality and in the eyes of the law, Henry was not her son. He was Regina's and Regina right now had the right to take her son away from Emma. His girl had played right into Regina's hand and Jack could only shake his head at the thought.

Emma spent that night in his house in his bed like she had done when she was little and the nightmares for both of them had been at peek fixture. She still slept like a little girl smoothing her cheek against the pillow like she was testing out the quality of the fabric and Jack sighed returning back to his machine. While he wouldn't deny that Emma was right about Regina he couldn't deny that she had gone about it all wrong and now the other mother had the upper hand.

Perhaps he should see Regina see if they could smooth this thing over…one adoptive parent to another.

He wouldn't deny that he was looking forwards to it. He also wouldn't deny that it had been years since he had, had a verbal sparring partner worthy of the very name. And if he fell asleep smiling—well—Emma need never know.

* * *

Regina had been sipping her morning latte with a very well satisfied smile. Finally all was well in her world. Henry was back in her possession, that damn book had been lost and now he was acting like a normal boy instead of Emma Swan's son, her plan was working perfectly, Emma was on the backfoot and Gold was now forced to see her once again as a worthy player on the chessboard.

And to cap off a perfect day the news of the affair between Mary Margaret and David was out. Katheryn was of course a regrettable part of the collateral damage in this great game but as she sipped her coffee she found that she didn't care. The fact that Snow White was being vilified as a tramp was perhaps the sweetest form of justice that Regina had ever had the joy to see come to pass.

All was well with the world.

The door opened and in came Jack Reynolds. Regina took a moment to look at him. It was raining and his hair was wet and sticking to his forehead, he was in loose jeans and a jumper and boots. She supposed he was nearing fifty but he still looked (she would admit to herself in this good mood she was in) like sex on a stick. Such a shame he was backing his daughter in this fight between the two of them…but still…Snow White was now a tramp. Oh! Regina could sing she was that happy!

"You look cheerful" Jack Reynolds said looking at her. He had somehow gotten a coffee in his hand since her mind had wandered and he had sat down without asking reaching for her sugar. Normally she would have taken him to the floor for that kind of insolence but while she suspected it wouldn't work she also didn't care because Snow White was a tramp.

Oh all was so good in this world.

"I am" she said. "Funding for my new park has come through. Henry is back in school and your daughter far away from him and all is well"

"Oh please" Jack Reynolds said dumping four sugars into his coffee (Regina watched him in horror) "Your just glad that the affair has been made public. Admit it, you never liked that woman"

Regina wanted to deny it but she couldn't.

"Fine" she said and hoping she didn't sound to him like the child she sounded like to herself. "But you've not been here a long time. Mary Margaret Blanchard is dangerous and devious. And Kathryn was my friend. I will miss her deeply"

"Ok" Jack Reynolds said winking at her with his big blue eyes. "If that's how you want to play this one Regina then I'll let you have it. I have something more important to discuss with you"

Regina nodded though she suspected what it must be about and she was most certainly not prepared to meet him at anyway on this. Henry was hers again she was not going to let him go this time.

"I know what your going to say" she said finally. "And I am not letting Henry spend time with that woman again. I know she happens to be your daughter but you know the kind of stuff Henry believes in now and she does nothing to discourage him."

Jack Reynolds swirled one finger around his mug.

"I know what Henry believes in" he said finally. "And I know that he's going to believe in it weather Emma is on his side or not. I knew his father Miss Mills trust me this dogged persuit of something is all him."

Regina leaned forwards intrigued.

"Is he a danger? The father?"

Jack Reynolds snorted. "I doubt it" he said finally. "Bastard skipped out without even bothering to say goodbye. He didn't even know, Emma never got a chance to tell him."

Regina considered that for a moment and then shook her head.

"I still have to worry about Henry" she said finally.

Captain Reynolds leaned back against his chair watching her for a second and then he leaned forwards so fast Regina found herself leaning back on instinct.

"I know" he said "But that kid wants to spend time with Emma and you and I both know that he's going to. Depends on weather or not you want him to sneak around behind your back. Look I do get it you know. You think there wasn't a time when I was terrified of Emma's biological parents coming back into the fold? Because there was"

Regina paused. She had never considered it like that. She had taken away Snow White's chance to be a mother and somehow her daughter had ended up with this man who was actually trying to understand her. While she had been safe and sound tucked up in the knowledge that she had won this man had been in her exact same boat and had never known that magic was the reason it was possible.

Huh.

"If I consider it will you leave me to my morning coffee in peace?"

Jack Reynolds winked at her and then he smiled as he stepped out into the sunshine and Regina realised that despite her inner promise that she would remain aloof in front of this man he had played her game and won himself something and she couldn't stop smiling.

Fuck she was in trouble.

* * *

After a nightmare of a day dealing with Gold (who was getting more and more difficult even after she had dealt with that whole robbery incident) who was now out on bail and demanding…well…not demanding per say but politely insisting that she start seeing things his way—whatever that meant, Emma came back to the apartment where she was staying to find Mary Margaret crying in the bathroom and demanding that she be left alone. Seeing no other way around this Emma went back to the station and she texted Jack who mercifully understood this polite attempt at letting him know where she was as a cry for both food and company and promptly texted her back saying he was on her way.

She settled down into her chair and looked over the phone records of Katheryn Nolan. The car was nothing out of the ordinary other than the fact that it had been the second car wreck to happen at the border (third if you counted the fact that she had been in one the first night she had been in town) and there was every opportunity in the world that Kathryn had simply walked off out of the town to the nearest bus stop.

That was what the part of her brain wanted to believe. The other part knew that leaving her luggage behind was something even more sinister but the two people with the motives for it she couldn't see hurting anyone and the two people she could believe capable of hurting someone (Gold and Regina) both had solid alibies.

This whole thing was a mess and she needed Jack's help to figure out what was happening and she took a deep breath leaning back in her chair and she swallowed. There was a pause where she cracked her neck. Henry would say it was magic she thought to herself. But Katheryn Nolan's disappearance was not magic. This was real life. A woman was missing and her roommate and her lover were undoubtably the prime targets.

* * *

Rumple had gone looking for something to eat. He was honestly too board to stay in his house and if he was being honest with himself he wanted to see how in place Regina's plan was when it came to framing Snow White.

He had just ordered a coffee to take back having been somewhat satisfied by the fact that despite the fact Granny feared him she had not stopped gossiping for him and had spent ten minutes dissecting who could have possibly written tramp on Mary Margaret's car (and at this point he wouldn't put anything past Regina) when the door opened and Reynolds came in.

Gold watched him as he ordered two coffees and enough fried food to kill a man. Granny got him his order and then the man turned as if he had just noticed Gold was there which he thought was highly unlikely because if anyone was going to know who was in the room just by a quick glance it was this man.

Jack Reynolds walked passed him and only slowed down so that it looked like he was reaching for the sugar. In fact nobody was looking at them and even if they were they wouldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"You know" Captain Reynolds said taking a swig of coffee. "I don't know how you work or if Henry's right about you being the most powerful man alive or whatnot but if you play my girl again, or point a gun at her or do anything to her that I don't like I promise you they are not going to find an inch of you left"

And with that he swept out of the room.

Rumple considered this. In terms of a threat it was pretty weak but he had to admit that right now it was strong. The threat was only weak when it came to the fact that he didn't have his power. Hell he only had the knowledge of his power. There was a pause as he considered this threat. He was weak in this life with no magic and a crippled leg. He was in trouble and he didn't like to admit it.

Henry Mills needed to get his mother to admit that she believed in magic and fast.

Perhaps it was time for him to give the boy…a little nudge in the right direction.

If Gold had turned around he would have seen the man on the motorbike speed into town. The man that had never been seen before. An outsider. A stranger.

But he didn't and so he remained like many of the other residents in Storybrooke blissfully unaware of what was going to happen next.

* * *

 **And there you go I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will try and update sooner rather than later.**

 **Next Chapter-As Ruby goes to work for Emma, the deepening mystery into Kathryn's disappearance increases as both David and Mary Margaret become the prime suspects. Jack tries to prepare Emma for the worst as she investigates and Henry meets an interesting stranger. **


	7. Some Make It, Some Don't

**Hi, so here is another chapter, still some more to go in Season 1 but thank you all for your interest in this story so far. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.**

 **And I will try and have the next chapter published as soon as possible.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 7-Some Make It, Some Don't

As Ruby goes to work with Emma, the deepening mystery into Kathryn's disappearance increases as both David and Mary Margaret become the prime suspects. Jack tries to prepare Emma for the worst as she continues to investigate, meanwhile Henry meets a mysterious stranger.

* * *

This was getting worse and worse Jack thought. He might not be working on this case but he knew enough to know that there had been an accident that wasn't an accident and a woman was missing whose husband was planning to run away with another woman.

The whole town was dominated by gossip. Mary Margaret might have won back some good will during the whole candle thing but she was not completely forgiven. He could see that even as he sipped his morning coffee. Emma was supposed to be joining him but she had taken to walking Henry to school (something Regina had given in to and allowed Emma to do that. Jack had levelled a wink in the woman's direction and had been rather surprised when the woman turned her expression away) and therefore she was running late.

There was a pause when Emma sat down. Granny was banging around in the kitchen and she slid Emma's coffee over to her with slightly more anger in her than Jack thought the old woman could possess. She took a gulp of the sweet sickly, syrupy mess and then passed him a file.

"I had the garage look over Kathryn's car to see weather or not she could have had a genuine accident or if it was sabotage but they said they didn't know and well…you're the best mechanic in the Marine Corps remember. So can you look at this and tell me if this was deliberate."

And she passed the file to him.

Jack smiled. To be honest—if he was being honest with himself he had to admit that he wanted to look into this himself. He didn't want to think that the sweet looking teacher that lived with his daughter was capable of murder but he had to admit that he had seen woman in war who had looked completely innocent and had been working for enemy forces and had been prepared to kill for them.

There was a pause where he looked at the pictures and looked at the notes. He was delaying the inevitable but Emma didn't know that. It was fairly obvious to him—speaking and looking as a man who had seen men rip apart Humvees with their bare hands and repair them with less than hours to go before they left the base.

"This looks" he said finally. "Like someone did this. This looks like sabotage Emma. I wish I could say that it didn't but it did. And you and I both know who the more likely suspects are"

Emma was already shaking her head. "David and Mary Margaret did not do this. I know David looks guilty, I know how this pans out on an episode of Law and Order but Dad I promise you there is no way that she could do this or that he could. I'd know."

He wanted to tell her that there was no way that she could know that but she looked so desperate to here her views validated by someone and the use of the moniker of Dad that she never used unless she was desperate finally forced him to listen to her.

If all Emma wanted was reassurance then he could give her that in abundance. Even if he knew the truth. Even if he knew that there was no way that this didn't have foul play written all over it.

It was clear even to him. Soon it would have to be clear for Emma. But he supposed that soon didn't have to be today. Emma had, had such a rough turn in life that if she wanted to believe her only friend was guilty of murder then he couldn't help but want to grant her a reprieve from the truth that he suspected would be coming out sooner rather than later.

"Ok darling" he said finally. "If that's the way you want to play it. Then I'm sure she's not guilty but you should look at these Emma. You don't need to be a mechanic to cut the breaks as what happened here. Something happened to this car and it was certainly man-made"

Emma nodded but Jack could tell that she was not listening to him. He closed his eyes for a brief second and then opened them again and decided to change the subject.

"So…do you want to tell me what the hell you did to make Granny so upset with you?" he asked finally still keeping one eye over the documents that proved that something had happened to what he knew to be a mostly innocent woman.

"Err…well…I kinda hired Ruby to work for me as my secretary and I guess she doesn't like that"

Jack stared at her for a second and then laughed. "God Emma you really don't make things easy for yourself, do you?"

Emma laughed. "Thought you knew that by now" she said winking at him. Jack could only laugh back.

* * *

But that of course didn't change any of the facts as he knew them.

Nor did it change that feeling he had whenever he dwelled on this town too much. That feeling that the very worst was still to come. It was something he couldn't get rid of. And he had a feeling it would be both his and his daughters and perhaps even his grandson's downfall.

And no assurance that either Emma or Henry knew what they were doing was going to change his opinion on that.

"You know" Ruby said on the third day of her working for Emma. "There is something about your adoptive father Emma. I doubt even Regina could turn him down if he really went after her. He's dreamy" she finished sounding more and more dreamier as she completed her sentence. Emma scowled and couldn't contain her shudder as she considered a life where her Dad and Regina were an item. Ugh it was just…ugh…

"I would rather deal with Gold on a daily bases than see that happening" she said and Ruby laughed her red tinted dark hair flying over her shoulder and Emma found she couldn't help but smile back. She knew however that the story was not going to change because of her Dad. Her Dad would never go for a woman like Regina.

He would never do that to Emma.

And so she turned back to her files and tried to pretend that everything wasn't looking like her roommate, her friend and her son's teacher and her lover were not looking more and more like murderers everyday even with no body.

* * *

Jack had been running again, as he often did to try and shake the feeling that something wasn't right about this town and he saw it as he ran down Main Street. Henry was talking to someone. The man was so dark haired and so tall and so made of more muscle and leather than any man that Jack had ever seen that for a second of endless rage that had never shifted he thought it was Neal.

He was halfway across the street before he could stop himself. If it was Neal…if this was Neal then he was going to smile and be polite and then he was going back home straight for his gun and he was going to finish what he should have started so many years ago when this kid was nothing but a tiny twinkle in the eye of his father and somewhat unsuspecting mother. And Oh, Jack was going to enjoy this.

But it wasn't Neal.

Damn.

It was another stranger who he had never seen. In fact he and Neal (or at least the Neal, Jack remembered) could have been brothers once upon a time. There was something about him.

"Hey Grandpa" Henry said beaming "Have you met August?" and then in the same breath the kid said without pause. "He's gonna help Mom believe in the curse"

Oh like hell he was. Jack might have been out of the dating world for some time—at least long enough to not know if this was some kind of code but he was damn well gonna make sure that Emma didn't fall into bed with another boyband wannabe lookalike criminal. He'd had enough headaches cleaning up the mess the last one had made.

But still he smiled and said the right things and held out his hand to August Booth (stupid name he decided not as stupid as Neal Cassidy but up there) and if he gripped the man's hand a little tighter than his usual grip well that was between him and the God he had long ago stopped believing in.

* * *

There was a knock at his door pulling him out of his watching movies with a beer that was his afternoon now and Jack stretched to his feet to see Emma on the other side of the door. He opened it and the greeting died on his lips. There was something in her expression that boded ill.

"What happened?" he asked reaching for his coat.

"I need you to come with me" Emma said and her voice was like ice. She was shivering and it was most certainly not from cold he could see that. She looked as if she had aged ten years in the past hour or so since he had last received a text message from her that everything was ok and that she was on top of things.

Clearly she was not on top of things now.

"What happened Em?" he asked and then she moved so suddenly that he didn't even see it coming, moving so that she was in his arms in a hug that he couldn't remember the last time she had instigated one. He paused for a second and then his arms came around her.

"Is it Henry?" he asked quietly. There was a shake of the blonde head buried in his shoulder and Jack nodded to himself. If it wasn't Henry then it wasn't Regina. He doubted very much that it was Neal because it taken him hours with all of his training and Emma's GPS co-ordinates for him to get there and no way was Neal that smart.

So that meant it had something to do with the disappearance of Kathryn Nolan which meant that something had happened (if you followed that logic) that made him think that his daughter had finally realised that there was a chance her (admittedly) very sweet roommate might be capable of being dangerous. Ok, so she was perhaps not the first person Jack would have thought on (he'd have thought Nolan) but there was no way Emma was this upset if it was anything or anyone other than her friend.

"What did you find?" he asked pulling back and Emma looked at him her eyes red and blow and Jack just knew it wasn't going to be good.

"Ruby found it, she went to the toll road and I don't know how but there was a box…" she was talking very fast and her teeth were chattering. Jack had never seen her this upset not even when she had given birth to Henry, whatever had happened it had shocked his daughter who was practically non-shockable by now.

"Inside it was a human heart…a human…like a bare human heart Dad, so I had it checked and it's Kathryn's. She's got to be dead"

Jack gazed at her. For all is imaginings he had not seen this one coming. That—well that took some doing—actually he had to admit that it was beyond even what he could imagine and he had seen and could imagine quite a bit.

"There were fingerprints on the lid of the box. I ran them through…I got a match" she said quietly.

"Which one of them was it?" he said just as soft as her.

Emma looked at him her eyes filled with tears. "You know who" she said finally and Jack did, oh he did. Emma was not the kind of woman to be bowled over by a sentimental moment—life had taught her the hard lesson that crying meant weakness before she had turned five and she had never gotten out of that habit. Trust didn't come easier to either one of them. Probably why they made such a good match.

"Ok" he said finally taking a deep breath. "You want me to come with you when you arrest her."

Emma's face half crumpled and then she pulled herself together and nodded. Jack reached for his coat and grabbed his boots pulling them on and grabbing his keys.

"I'm gonna drive ok?"

Emma nodded and then she turned and walked back down his path and he knew it was in a way so that she could keep her face hidden from him. Jack sighed to himself and felt a great wave of inconvenience for the pain that this had caused her and that she now had to go and arrest her friend for the murder of her lover's wife and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

* * *

 **And there you are. Hope you enjoyed it and I will endeavour to have the next chapter up sooner rather than later.**

 **Next Chapter-Emma meets a man with an obsession with hats as evidence stacks against Mary Margaret. Jack and Regina may be doing more than sparring during their early coffee sessions. **


	8. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

**Hi, so here is another chapter, again some issues uploading but here it is, so i hope you enjoy. There are three more chapters of Season 1 left and then we move onto Season 2**

 **Again this takes a look into Regina's head. I love Regina as a character and i love getting into her head as i find it fascinating and therefore this chapter was one of my favourites.**

 **Some trigger warnings for this chapter as it does deal with the drugging of women so please keep that in mind. I don't dwell too much on the episode because i do like the character of Jefferson and i love Sebastian Stan so therefore i find the episode...odd...**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

 **And i will try and update as soon as i am able too.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 8-Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

Emma meets a man with an obsession with hats as evidence stacks against Mary Margaret. Jack and Regina may be doing more than sparring during their early coffee sessions.

* * *

Emma had never seen it coming. Life as a marine's daughter not to mention the fact that she had, hard years both in the foster system and in the prison system had taught her to be both strong and clear when it came to things like drinks from strangers, car rides from strangers and trusting strangers, getting into houses with strangers and especially strange men. Jack had taught her about stuff like that since she turned thirteen and she had come across Law and Order for the first time.

And what had she done. She had done all of what he had told her not to do because her friend had finally realised the wind was not blowing in her direction and that she was going down certainly for a crime that Emma (and she seemed to be the only one in the town—whatever David had said had made things only worse in her opinion) believed she could not commit.

How would she have slept in the upstairs bedroom not knowing that there was a knife beneath her roommates bed. Hell for the night that the affair had been broadcasted across town she had curled up in that bed with her and held her while she cried so she believed that she would know weather or not their was a massive knife hidden under the bed.

She bit her bottom lip as she wrapped her jacket around her. There had been the hat thing which was insane, the tea thing which was more frightening than she had ever seen. Then there had been the fact that he had had her friend locked up in his room and they had both fallen out of a window while he had looked like some sort of insane Calvin Klein model who modelled hats and looked at little girls while they were eating dinner. Emma pulled her jacket tighter around her and was half prepared to drag her friend back to the jail cell if she had to. She knew her friend was innocent and she knew Regina was guilty and she wanted a hug from Jack because she had realised something tonight and she didn't like it whatsoever.

She was scared in a way she had never been scared before. Not even in prison.

Finally she thought, Emma Swan was reaching her capacity for this town. Had it not been for Henry she would quit as soon as this trial was over. Maybe there was a way that she could still spend time with him but this place was becoming not only crazier by the minute but even more dangerous and it was that thought that she clung to as she locked the door on her only friend and tried to pretend that she believed everything would work out right when in reality she had wanted to let her keep running and never stop.

She bit her bottom lip and tried not to cry as she locked herself in the office. She didn't want to be here anymore and last night being drugged and kidnapped and forced to make hats (and she knew she should be relieved that it wasn't anything more sinister) had finally proven it to her.

Emma fingered her phone and tried to call Jack but it just went to voicemail. Instead she curled her knees around her and rested her head on them as her friend was taken to her arraignment and she tried to pretend that she wasn't terrified or close to tears.

And that was before she found the recording device hidden under her potted plant.

And then she was back to her most comfortable emotion.

Fury.

* * *

Regina had been walking to Granny's when she saw him. She had to give him credit where credit was due when it came to punctuality. He was always on time. She suspected that was the Marine in him and she couldn't help but find it rather soothing. So much of this town was made up by the poorer people in her realm who lounged around on their own time (at least in her opinion that was what they did) it was nice to find a man who ran like clockwork. Even Graham didn't do that.

Jack (and yes she had taken to calling him Jack in her head like his very name was some secret that she wanted to treasure for the rest of her days) was sat outside Granny's paper in hand and coffee in front of him boots up on the table in a way that might have once upon a time made her snap out a less than friendly comment. However she found that she was smiling at this lack of common respect.

God there was something wrong with her.

Problem was she knew what it was.

Why oh why did he have to be Emma Swan's father? Of all the men in the world why did it have to be the one who had taught the woman she loathed more than she cared to admit, the threat to her happiness how to be strong enough to take Regina on in this world? Why? Wasn't losing Daniel punishment enough? Hadn't she paid a bigger price? Or was Gold finally onto something with that whole heart empty thing?

The idea of waking up in the morning to find her downstairs sipping coffee was more nauseating than Regina wanted to think about. Even so she knew enough to know what was happening here and she knew that there was a chance that she was going down a rabbit hole where she might not come back up completely intact. It had been a long time since she had put her heart into anything that wasn't raising Henry or destroying Snow White's happiness.

She liked to think she had done both splendidly.

"Good morning Regina" Jack said without looking up. Regina ruffled her skirt and reminded herself that it meant nothing if she had washed her hair vigorously this morning and forced herself into a tighter skirt than she would have normally done for a mid monthly meeting. Noting whatsoever.

There was a pause where she stood there and tried not to look pathetic even though he did have his newspaper up. Finally after what seemed like an age he put it down. "So" he said finally. "Good morning, crushed Mary Margaret yet, you know she got bail."

"Yes and your daughter put up the security. Bit biased for the sheriff" she snapped back feeling rather put out that Snow White was able to sleep in her own bed and see the light of day through a window rather than bars when Daniel could never open his eyes again.

Jack looked at her for a long second.

"She must have done a number on you" he said softly. "You want to tell me about it?"

For a second, for a genuine second that seemed to stretch longer than it should she found that she genuinely wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him about Daniel and the way he had her feel and what she had been prepared to give up for him. For the happy ending she had so desperately wanted that had been snatched away from her because a ten year old had been too stupid and too selfish to understand that there were some things more important in life than being a Princess and living in a castle. She noted that even when she had been with Charming, Snow had always made sure her coat was white and her boots were polished and she was called and served like a Princess. She had never understood why Regina had been willing to give that up. Charming had never allowed her to give that up to be with him. Daniel had never cared.

She wanted to tell Jack that she did. It was a strange feeling, she had never wanted to tell anyone that, she had thought she would live and die with her one love buried in another world and nothing but a ring for memories and men for distractions to get rid of when she tired of them like Graham.

Jack wasn't even a flirtation but she knew she didn't want to get rid of him.

All of a sudden she realised what she was feeling…that she was feeling something after so long of cold detachment that she was dealing with and she took a deep breath and then turned around and walked away ignoring the look of surprise mingled in more than a little hurt she walked away from that stupid Marine Captain who had managed to make her feel more in the previous weeks as she had done for all of her marriage and the years after that.

* * *

Regina was sat in her back yard sipping apple cider and pretending to enjoy the view of her apple tree now it had regrown. Henry had come home from school and had actually been happy enough to tell her what was going on. Her son was confident Snow White would be off a murder charge sooner rather than later and Regina suspected that it might be time to call in her patsy. Sidney owed her more than a few favours and it was time to call them in.

God knows if Kathryn Nolan turned up alive or dead then she was going to have to cover her tracks. Rumple himself had taught her that he was never going to cover her tracks if the opportunity best suited him. Her friend and long adversary had cut his cloth years before Regina had been that frightened teenager hurt and angry and desperate for revenge.

"Where's the kid`?" came a voice and she turned to see Jack standing there as if he hadn't hopped her fence with considerably more skill than a man of his age should have she reasoned. Regina watched him for a second and then sighed putting down her mug on the grass and shifting so she was even if she wasn't putting words to it, inviting him to sit next to her which he did with ease.

"Gone to Emma's. Desperate to save his school teacher. Lost to me forever" she finished with a smile that was more pain filled than she meant it to show at the time. Jack's face was filled with a sympathy so sweet that she had to look away again. It had been a very long time since someone had looked at Regina Mills like that.

She didn't know whether or not it made her want to come closer to him or run away. All her life either her mother or her old teacher or even once her stepdaughter had taught her the hard lessons which was if you wanted to survive you had to be harder and better and faster and stronger than everyone else around you otherwise you would lose everything, Snow had lost her Daniel and Regina had gone after the throne and then she had gone for that too and now Snow's daughter was after her boy. And this man was either going to be friend or foe when the truth came out and at some point Regina knew with Henry pushing—the truth was going to come out she was on borrowed time now.

"Oh come on Regina" Jack said stretching out. "I was teasing you know. All of it, I never meant anything by it"

"You were openly flirting with me" she said trying not to sound accusing and probably failing.

Jack looked at her with a small smile on his face.

"And? I thought we were halfway towards understanding each other?"

Regina sighed. "Emma" she said finally.

Jack looked supremely unconcerned. "I can handle Emma, she's my daughter and I love her deeply but she doesn't run my life. She doesn't get to tell me who not to flirt with or go out with the same way I never got to do it for her. Believe me if I had Regina you wouldn't have your son right now but I didn't. And she doesn't get to tell me that, I can make my own mistakes and…and this isn't some tumble in the sheets for me. Though I suppose if you wanted to do that then—" And he winked.

Regina snorted with laughter unable to stop herself. She thought that if Jack had been in the Enchanted Forest when she had been at the height of her power things might have been different. But she supposed not, even now she had nothing but the urge to crush Snow White even with the opportunity of something new on the table. She didn't want to stop, Daniel was still too raw, he wasn't just her one true love he had been her future and her safety and her brown haired children that loved horses and even if they were poor knew that their mother and father loved them regardless.

Now there was nothing. There was Henry and he helped the ache and her become complete again but she held no illusion that it was going to last. Henry was gone to her, he was Emma's boy and Regina didn't have the fight in her anymore. It had gone when she had learnt what he had really thought of her—the venom in his voice when he had said he had found his real mom still cut her to quick even now.

Jack reached out and touched her hand pulling it up and then uncurling her fingers.

"I don't say yes" Regina said finally.

Jack smiled and brushed his finger against her open palm.

"You don't say no" he said softly.

His kiss when it did come was as light as a feather.

* * *

 **And there you go, i hope you enjoyed this chapter and will stay tuned for the next.**

 **Next Chapter-As a culprit is freed and another is found, Emma makes a drastic decision about Henry's wellbeing, Regina tries too get Jack on board as an ally and Mary Margaret thinks she might see sparks where there shouldn't be them.**

 **Enjoy.**


	9. Heightened Emotions

**Hi, so here is another chapter, hope you all enjoy.**

 **And just so i can clear this up before you guys start reading Jack does believe in Emma and her mothering skills but as an adoptive parent he is naturally going to side with Regina. Lana did say in one of the earliest interviews for OUAT that one of Regina's main issues was with her adoptive son's biological mother coming back into his life and that is something that we really see Jack struggle with both in this chapter and in others coming down the line.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.**

 **And i will try and update sooner rather than later.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 9-Heightened Emotions

As a culprit for murder is freed and another is found, Emma makes a drastic decision about Henry's wellbeing. Regina tries to get Jack on board as an ally and Mary Margaret thinks that she might see sparks in places and people where she shouldn't see them.

* * *

The next day Jack woke up to a missed call from Emma. Several missed calls from Emma in fact and he took a minute to take himself out of a rather pleasurable dream that included Regina and the events of yesterday and he flipped open his phone and answered on of her missing calls sliding back into bed. It wasn't the worse bed that he had ever slept in and the air was cold with a frost coming in from the sea and not for the first time in his life he snuggled back into bed and let the warmth surround him.

"Yeah" he said into the phone.

"Wow did you sleep in?"

"Em I am not known for my patience remember? And also I earned my pension and the right to sleep in thank you. What's so important you had to ring me nine times"

There was a pause where he took in the sound of Emma on the phone she sounded almost giddy and Jack wondered for the briefest of seconds if it had anything to do with that leather clad stranger that was strutting around town. If so…good for her…Emma had been alone for too long and a part of Jack calculated that his daughter might take the news that he interested in Regina a bit more once she had someone else other than an empty home to come home too.

"What?" he repeated and was seriously considering hanging up the phone on her when she spoke.

"We found Kathryn Nolan, alive"

Now that did get him sitting up out of bed.

"So she's not dead?"

"No she's not dead! Isn't it wonderful? It means that Mary Margaret didn't do it, I can let her go and put Regina behind bars where she belongs and get Henry out of that house"

And there went the happy mood.

Again with the bashing of Regina. Granted he did think that perhaps she might have gotten her hands dirty in the past and there was nothing that didn't say she wouldn't do anything for her son but murder? She might have an evil streak in her but even Jack could tell it was all stemming from some kind of hurt that had happened in the past.

"Emma has she said it was Regina? Has she given any indication that Regina was responsible? Because if she has fair enough but if she says that it was your friend then I don't have to tell you that your obligated to lock her back up again"

"She hasn't said anything but that's not the point. The point is, is that she's alive!"

Somehow Jack thought as she hung up still cackling to herself. That was not the point. That was not the point at all.

* * *

Regina was worried. Oh not about Kathryn Nolan, she was not worried about that. Sidney had a lifetime both in their past lives and in this one for doing her favours and he would take this one and do his time and then in a year or so when Emma Swan was gone she would still have Henry and she would let him out claim he was rehabilitated and that would teach him a lesson for his stupidity.

So no Regina was not worried about that. Nor was she worried about Gold. They might hate each other and fight like cats and dogs in a basket but as far as Gold was concerned there was a better chance that he would take her side as opposed to the Charming's. He was banking on something from this curse that much was obvious but he was also too smart to let them get him a second time.

No she was worried about Emma.

She'd had a productive day. She had lost a friendship and lost her cause (though the war was still to be won) and she had a sense that she might need to consolidate what little power she had in this world. There was always tomorrow to defeat Snow White but she could give herself today to savour the image in the woman behind bars. But the threat of Emma Swan was something she couldn't rid herself off.

The woman had said she was getting her son off her.

That was…interesting.

Legally Regina was pretty sure the woman had no right but she couldn't help but worry. It was in her very nature to worry about what this woman—the child that was conceived to destroy her-would do when she had the chance. Henry was a real thing to both of them and Emma Swan had her son's good approval and the backing of that insipid woman and probably most of the town against the law and whatever judge Regina could buy off.

Even Gold wasn't something she could take for granted in this instance. He'd never got over the way she had told him about Belle. Actually come to think of it she had better make sure that she was safe and locked up because if he did ever find Belle then she would probably never see the light of day again.

She needed someone on her side and the one person she was sure understood that Emma Swan would have no legal bases to her son, the one person who she thought might understand where she was coming from as an adoptive mother, the one person who Emma Swan would listen to and probably the person who would call her should she abscond with Henry was the one person who had left her feeling so exposed the other day. And that person was Captain Reynolds.

And so she told her secretary Anastasia that she was leaving early and went looking for him.

He was at his house working under the hood of his car. Regina took a moment to appreciate his ass under those jeans as she would on any other day and then another to inch her away around the oil that was all over the floor because these were rather nice and certainly expensive heels and then before she could so much as open her mouth a voice floated out from under the hood.

"Bad idea to sneak up on a Marine you know?"

Regina frowned at him.

"I need to talk to you about your daughter."

"Oh boy" and then Jack came out white shirt smeared with grease. He reached for a rag and wiped his hands on it. "What did she do now?"

"She is threatening to take me to court for custody of my son. Actually she didn't threaten me, she said she would. And she seems damn certain I will lose because I'm only the adoptive parent. So as an adoptive parent I need you to talk to her and get her to stop before I have to get a restraining order and start hiring lawyers. I like you I do but this is my child and she's got a lot of skeletons in her closet"

Jack let her finish her speech which had sounded impressive in her head and had now turned into a bit of a ramble.

"I knew this would happen" he said finally. "I knew that she would get too attached to him and him to her. I asked her if she could keep him at arms length and walk away if she had to and she told me she could but I guess not. Good thing one of us has a brain"

"Is that what you've been doing? Keeping Henry at arm's length?" she asked curious and distracted if perhaps for only a moment. Jack shrugged.

"That's just how I am. Emma understands that because she's seen me at my worse and I her. She understands I don't do emotions and I don't do barrels of emotional support. I gave her a clear choice when she gave birth and she chose the one that she thought, that I thought she could live with"

He shot her another look.

"I'd get that kid into serious therapy if I was you" he said seriously. Because he's already got his teacher thinking this shit is real and his old therapist and God only knows who else. Emma's not a believer yet but she's humouring him and I think that's worse"

"Will you say that in court?" she asked desperately though the thought of court was unbearable. Jack shook his head finally.

"No" he said slowly. "But I will tell her that in private. If that doesn't take then I suppose it's back to the old tough love thing that I used when she was skipping around with Henry's father. And that did work in it's own way"

Regina who didn't want to talk about Henry's biological father (she was having enough trouble dealing with his mother) didn't say anything to that but she felt rather than saw the presence of the woman she despised more than Emma Swan right now and she turned to see Snow White in her demure little skirt and stupid tweed cape coat standing there. Good Lord she even had a basket.

If Jack picked up on the tension (and he was bound to do so) he didn't say anything. Instead he leaned against the open hood of the car and said in a tone that was perfectly cordial.

"Hello Miss Blanchard. Something I can do for you?"

"I was wondering if you would like to come over for dinner tomorrow night. We're having a private get together, Emma probably Henry and maybe Ruby" she said and Regina took a moment to consider that the woman had made it perfectly clear Henry was coming without asking Henry's mother.

Poisoned apple? She should have ripped out her heart when she had the chance. Bitch.

"Where is my son?" she asked in a tone of deceptive calm that she knew was bordering on murderous.

Snow White turned to her the look of innocence she wiped out whenever Daniel was talked about in the Enchanted Forest. It was the look of a girl who had known the damage she had done that day when she had told her mother her secret, or told Regina over Daniel's tomb and had not cared. She had managed to turn Daniel, her Daniel's death into something that only made her more lovable to the people and even if she never got the chance to kill her that was something Regina knew she would, never, ever forgive.

"He's with his mother" she said repeating the same words she had said that afternoon.

"Henry is not here with Regina"

It was Jack's voice and he was watching the two of them with a pleasant expression as if he had just seen a good hand come up in a game of cards. He looked almost amused. There was nothing about him that made him look threatening but there was something about his manner that gave Regina a good look at what it must have been like for Marines to train under him.

Snow White gaped at him for a second. Regina took a moment to savour that image and then she whirled on her heel and took off.

"Thank you" she said finally. She was not a woman to be overcome by a sentimental moment but she found that she couldn't stop the tears that came to her eyes. She had to blink them away but she could at the very least acknowledge to herself that it was nice to have an ally that didn't want anything from her in return. She looked away before she could say or do anything but there was a dirty finger under her chin and another feather light kiss on her mouth before she could stop herself from returning it.

This one she surmised was a bit deeper and considering her hands when they pulled apart were gripping his shoulders she supposed that he might be winning the upper hand with this one.

"Your welcome" was all he said.

* * *

That night Mary Margaret was washing the dishes when she thought she should bring it up.

"I saw your father today"

"Yeah?" Emma asked not looking up from her file of custody lawyers.

"Yeah…err…he was with Regina"

That did have Emma looking up.

"What did she want with him?"

"I don't know but…look Emma…I think there might be something going on between them"

Emma stared at her and then laughed.

"No look I promise you there's not. Jack's not had a relationship in nearly twenty years that's lasted longer than a boiled sweet. And Regina is not his type"

"I think she was asking him about your custody battle and he…I think he's on her side" she said in a rush. Emma looked back up at her and she took in the sharpness of her friend's body.

"What makes you think that?"

"He implied Regina was Henry's mother"

"She is" Emma said shrugging unconcernedly. "I'm not going to court to deny that am I? I'm going to court to say that I'm the better mother and therefore I should have custody of the kid"

Mary Margaret paused. "You're not going to do anything stupid are you? I know Gold didn't give you good odds"

Emma didn't answer her instead turning back to her file and Mary Margaret tried not to worry to much about it.

However that night she didn't have a choice. It seemed her fears were confirmed when Emma disappeared and she found herself wondering late into the night weather or not she should ring Jack Reynolds and tell him she was pretty sure his daughter had just kidnapped his girlfriend's son.

* * *

 **So yeah let me know what you think and i will update as soon as i can**

 **Next Chapter-Jack and Emma have a massive row about their roles in each others (and Henry's life) Regina makes one last ditch effort to get rid of Emma-even if it means losing Jack and Henry steps up and puts his life at risk in one last desperate effort to get his mother to believe that the curse is real.**


	10. Pick Your Posion

**Hi, so here is the penultimate chapter of Season 1! I hope you all enjoy it and I will have the final published in a few days hopefully.**

 **This chapter does deal with the discussion of adoption and the debate between adopted parents and biological. I have Jack take Regina's side because he understands what it is to love an adopted child like it's your own and also because as Archie said the way Henry's been acting can be linked to Emma. Also taking into account the law I find it difficult to believe Emma would have gotten the adoption vacated so that's what the row is about.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing Is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 10-Pick Your Poison

Jack and Emma have a massive row about their roles in each other's (and Henry's ) life. Regina makes a last ditch effort to get rid of Emma—even if it means losing Jack forever, and Henry steps up putting his life and his belief at risk in order to prove to his mother that the curse is real.

* * *

It was Henry that told him. Jack was out walking and trying to think up an excuse to go and see Regina that might be plausible to anyone with eyes only to run into his grandson as he was walking up the road.

"Hey Grandpa" he said beaming. "Did you come to see me?"

Well the answer to that was a resounding no but Henry was a smart lad and a kind one and there was no reason to hurt the boys feelings by explaining something that he wasn't sure whether or not Henry would understand.

"Yeah I did" he said finally.

"Oh cool. Is Mom still mad at me for last night?"

"Last night?"

"Yeah, the curse is the most important thing and I want us to live together but not just yet. I don't want to run away with her, I want to break the curse…to do that I gotta be here"

"Wait" Jack said with a sinking feeling that he knew where this was going. Slowly but surely he was feeling rage build up inside of him as well. If his daughter had done this, if she had done the one thing that he had told her not to do, if she had done the one thing that he had been afraid she would do then he was going to kill her. Because this would be the second time she had gotten too close to someone and put into motion events that he knew would end badly.

The last time had ended up with his kid in prison.

Chances are the second time was going to end the same way.

And the irony was, the second time involved the son of the man who had been responsible for Emma's impulsiveness the first time.

"Are you trying to tell me that Emma took you out of Storybrooke and intended to go on the run with you?" he asked finally through slightly gritted teeth.

"Yeah, but don't worry, I grabbed the steering wheel of her and propelled us of the road so now she has to stay"

And the kid was grinning while he said that too.

"Do you get how stupid that was? You could have killed her, hell you could have killed yourself or if you had both been taken to the hospital your mother would have found out what you were doing and probably had Emma arrested?"

God what was it with the Cassidy gene pool? That they never thought about consequences to their actions.

"Did you tell Regina this?" he said after trying to calm himself down.

"No why would i? Look Grandpa the curse is more important than anything and you have to get her to believe. August won't do it, Graham's dead, Mary Margaret and David are falling apart and Gold won't do it and there's nobody else would do it. It has to come from you, you have to tell her that she has to break it, you have to get her to believe in happy endings again so she can be reunited with her real family."

For a second he was so angry at the kid that he couldn't speak. How dare he even if he was ten, imply that he was anything less than Emma's real family. He had been there for that girl since she was five. He had to remind himself sharply that Henry was ten and angry at his adoptive mother and Jack slowly forced a smile on his face and didn't mind so much when it caused Henry to look as if someone died. Good because right now that was the way that Jack was feeling.

"Henry. Go to school. I will talk to Emma" he said through teeth so clenched that it was amazing that the words even came out at all.

He needed to speak to his daughter.

* * *

Mary Margaret was just putting on her coat when there was the knock on the door. Emma closed her eyes, this could either be two people and she had been expecting a confrontation with both. Regina she could handle. Jack on the other hand.

Her friend opened the door and Emma heard him rather than saw him come in. Mary Margaret took one look between them and then excused herself and Emma forced herself to stand so she could take the row that she was heading into straight on.

"Are you out of your mind?" Jack said finally.

"He cannot stay with Regina" she protested though it sounded weak to her ears. "He cannot Jack you know it. I know she had something to do with this whole murder debacle and the kid hates her. Either way if I leave he's going to come after me or try and get me to come back and I don't have the energy for the fight anymore."

"The kid needs help" Jack said bluntly. "I've been ten, Emma, I've been alone and I've hated my parents—and let me tell you I've had better reasons to hate them but that kid needs help, this had gone beyond over active imagination he tried to force you off the road, you could have been killed and all he could do was smile and talk about this curse. The kid needs therapy and a long term therapist at that because he aint getting in this shithole"

"He's not crazy" she defended but Jack looked at her with those eyes that made her feel five again and she knew the argument was weak and pathetic and wouldn't hold up. She didn't believe in anything either.

"Emma, the kid thinks Regina is an Evil Queen who rips out hearts! That's not normal and yes she runs this town like a dictator, yes she can be cold and yes she hates your friend but she's not an evil monster! She loves Henry, everyone says she wouldn't hurt him even Gold and she's took more crap from that kid than I ever would have allowed from you"

Emma nodded. All of this was making sense but still…

"I'm his mother" she said finally.

"No" Jack said finally his voice cold. "No Emma your not his mother."

It was so to the point and so blunt and from the one person that she never thought she would hear it from that she gasped and took a step back. For the first time in her life the fight that she had depended on went out. She knew what Jack was going to say, she knew it and she knew he was right but she couldn't stand the idea of hearing it.

But he ploughed on. To do anything else would mean being less than then man he was and Emma knew the kind of man her father was and she knew that him telling her the truth was the build up of months worth of fears.

"Regina is his mother, I stood by your bedside in that prison and I gave you a choice. I told you I would take that boy and raise him until you were out and you told me that you didn't want him and I gave him away. You had your chance to be his mother then and you didn't take it and you cannot come into his life and take him away from the only home he's ever known because you have regrets"

"He doesn't want to live with her!" she yelled.

"Yes!" Jack yelled back. "Because he thinks if he lives with you this curse will be broken! Because with you it's been codenames and adventures and sneaking out after dark and eating candy. Emma you have spoilt the kid and he wants to spend time with you because he thinks you will listen but he could have killed you last night. This fantasy of his has become to dangerous and you know it. Look at what he's done, skipped school, gotten himself stuck in a mine shaft, ran around after dark, nearly gotten himself killed time and time again and quite frankly behaved like his father, selfish and spoilt. You have done nothing but encourage this Emma and you know it because a part of you was pleased it was Regina taking the flack. And if you love him so much, if you want him so much why did it take him coming to find you rather than you going to find him?"

Emma was trembling. She had never in her life seen him this angry, and yet what he was saying was terribly true.

"Jack" she said finally.

"Emma that kid looked me in the eye today and as good as told me I would never be your real family and that he wanted you to forget me and go with them when the curse broke"

Emma sucked in a gasp.

"Jack…Dad you know that is never going to happen…i…"

"Emma I emphasise with Regina so much because you could have been your biological mother. You could have been Henry don't you understand? Of course she's going to cling on, of course she's going to want you out of the way, of course she's going to be a bitch about it. I would have murdered to keep you, there were days when you were the only thing that got me out of bed for the morning. I love you and I always will but I cannot follow you in this. That kid needs someone that's not you and if you love him then you have to leave him alone"

Emma was about to deny that she would ever do that but there was something about him that made her stop. He didn't look like her strong dependable father. He didn't look like he was a Marine, he looked so terribly defeated and alone and she recognised it as him once looking at a photo of two men in uniform and then shoving it in a draw when she came in from school one day.

He looked…old…for the first time in her life she could see age creeping in her dependable, human father.

She swallowed.

"Dad. If I leave him he's gonna follow, he's gonna…I don't know what he's going to do that's the point, he might do something to get me back here. If I stay then at least he doesn't hurt himself"

"Staying here and allowing him to believe in this fantasy Emma is hurting him" he said finally. "There is more than one way to hurt a child. You should know that better than anyone. Regina is his mother it's as simple as that and no court is going to nullify that adoption especially considering how the kid has behaved since you have arrived. You don't have a hope in winning this. Try and wrangle visitation rights from Regina if you want to. You might find she'll give them to you, she knows the kid's gonna want to see you. But for your own sanity Emma, for mine, for the future you want Henry to have you cannot be in Storybrooke because that kid is never gonna give up this curse thing if he thinks that you believe him"

"Your asking me to hurt him" Emma said finally wiping the tears from her face.

"No Emma" Jack said looking as broken as she felt. "I am asking you to think about what is best for him in the long run. Like any parent would."

And with that he walked out of the room and Emma waited until she could hear his footsteps going down the stairs until she climbed her own and burst into tears.

* * *

Jack took a deep sigh as he came out of that apartment. The message had sunk in it seemed even if he had to be brutal about it. But this was an evil that was needed for both his daughter and her son. This…this…couldn't go on.

 _"_ _Tough love"_ said the voice in his head that he attributed to his brother.

 _"_ _How very Dad like of you"_

Jack pushed himself of the wall and decided he had to go for a walk to calm down even if Reggie wasn't with him. And he resolutely told the dead ghosts cluttering up his head to shut the hell up.

* * *

Regina stared at the apple turnover. She could smell the apple and the cinnamon and she could feel the magic swelling around the small pastry. She paused. If she did this then there was no going back and it had been a long road to get here.

Daniel.

She had lost Daniel again.

And in doing this she was going to lose Jack.

But it was better than losing Henry for sure.

There was a knock at the door and Regina took of her apron. There was only two people in this town right now that would knock on her door like that. She took a deep breath breathing in and then letting it go and told herself that she was ultimately justified in what she was doing.

And then she went out, smile in place, face a mask of polite interest to go and make a deal with her devil that she knew she was never going to keep.

* * *

Jack was sat in the house that he had rented Reggie's head on his lap still smarting. He had been right that he did know. Had it been Emma's mother and father coming back into her life and trying to upstage it when he had been raising her he would have played as dirty as Regina. Regina was that boy's mother in the same way he was Emma's father. Henry…Henry had the great joy of time on his side to get used to it. Henry had not had the life that Emma had had. Henry did get his best chance.

And yet he knew this was the right thing to do. For the kid, for Emma, for Regina and he still couldn't shake that feeling deep in his gut that there was something terrible going to happen just around the corner.

His phone rang and he reached for it without looking at the ID. Realistically he knew who it was going to be and what they were going to talk about.

"Yeah"

"Dad it's Emma. Henry's collapsed. I…I need your help"

* * *

 **Next Chapter-Emma and Jack's worlds are rocked to the core, Henry is fighting for his life, a curse is broken and the world will never again be the same.**

 **And there you go, hope you enjoy.**


	11. The Brave

**Hi, so here is another chapter and the final one of my arc for Season 1!**

 **I did skip over most of the action as I didn't want this chapter to repeat the episode and I also gave a new character point of view that I have never written in before, also I portray Regina giving Jack advice about the Charming's because I dont think they were ever as black and white heroes that they were made to be.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine**

 **Please Read and Review.**

 **And I will try and have the next chapter up soon.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 11-The Brave.

Emma and Jack's worlds are rocked to the core, Henry is fighting for his life, a curse is broken and the world will never again be the same.

* * *

Jack met Emma in the hospital. Or perhaps met wasn't the right word for it because all he saw was Emma dragging Regina into the supply closet. He sighed wishing he had brought his gun and wondering how the hell this was his life and not for the first time either.

He slammed the door open, Emma was screaming something, Regina looked wreaked and as he dragged his daughter away she turned around and saw him her face white with a grief that he knew from experience was so strong it was unnameable.

"It's true" she said. "All of it, Henry's curse it's true. She's the Evil Queen. She poisoned him"

Jack was about to tell her that she was mad but something, something unnameable made him look at the woman he had a sneaking suspicion he was slowly falling in love with. Regina didn't look powerful or scared or evil she looked wreaked. She caught his eye and Jack stared at her for what felt like a long time. She straightened up slowly under his gaze and nodded.

"It's true" she said. "All of it"

For a second Jack stared between the two of them as if he couldn't see. He suspected from the two looks of concern he registered that he was getting both of them thought he was having a stroke. They might not be far off he thought dimly to himself. All his life he had been told to focus on the job in front of him weather it was keeping himself and his men alive or keeping Emma fed and clothed and as he told himself this was nothing different. Magic, curses, Regina and Emma's war they could wait—Snow White and Prince…David Nolan and that insipid woman Mary Margaret as Emma's parents could wait, he could play the long game and certainly fight for a long time, all his life had been one long fight, he could fight for Emma another day.

Right now he had to pull himself together because if Henry died which he supposed could happen Emma was going to kill Regina and nobody would know why and there was no way a curse was going to hold up in court unless Emma went for an insanity plea.

"Ok" he said and he was amazed at how detached his voice was.

"Can you fix it?"

Regina shook her head shooting him a look that Jack took to mean she was both relieved and confused by his rather clinical reaction—believe it Jack thought, he could feel the hysteria building like he had done when his brother…no…he was not going to go there not now. He was a Reynolds, they were nothing if not brilliant at putting off the inevitable when it came to emotions.

"Magic here is unpredictable. And I don't have enough of it in this realm to work, it's been dormant for twenty eight years"

"So Henry could die" Jack said getting to the crux of the matter. Emma moaned a little into his jacket and he tightened his arm around her not entirely convinced that she was standing on her own.

Regina's ashen look told him all that he needed to know.

Alright.

"Alright then we need a plan."

Regina snorted. Jack reminded himself he was a Captain with an extensive career in the Marine Corps and that if these two were a wreak then someone would have to take charge of this shit show and it may as well be him.

"Does anyone else here know?"

And of course once he said it aloud he knew.

Gold.

"Gold" Emma said. Regina ran a hand through her hair and gave a somewhat manic laugh as if she was amused that it was all coming back to Gold.

"Actually his name is Rumpelstiltskin"

Jack swore.

* * *

It was agreed after Emma and Regina had gone to speak to Gold, (Jack had wanted to go but Regina had pointed out that someone needed to stay with Henry and Jack had waved down Emma's idea of Mary Margaret-she was the last person he needed to see now) and therefore Jack was at the hospital examining the apple turnover thing that had put Henry in this sleep like death like thing and trying not to comment on the plan that they had to retrieve some egg thing.

There was only so much his brain could keep up with.

"Listen" he muttered in an undertone to Emma as Regina turned to sign something. "Keep low and stay low, judge your enemy before you strike, make sure you see the week points and for God sakes let him draw himself out first. Don't run towards him let him run towards you, all you have in a battle charge is control Emma, control what you can and get back to me alive"

"Keep Henry alive" Emma said nodding at his advice. Jack took her face in his hands and once satisfied his knowledge of everything to do with combat was somewhere in her head and in her instincts he nodded.

"Dad" she said and her voice cracked a little. "Even if we break this curse, whatever happens…Henry got it wrong, I have a family, nobody is going to take that away from you."

Jack didn't say anything just hugged her but he knew that it was a promise she might not be able to keep. The second this curse broke if it broke of course but if it did then he was going to have to fight for Emma every step of the way.

Good thing he had been fighting all his life.

Emma left the room leaving Regina and him alone for the first time since this whole thing had blown up on them.

"I was getting her out" Jack said finally. "I had her packing up and out and you know I wasn't going to let her take Henry, I had her out the town why the hell did you have to ruin it by trying to kill her?"

Regina stared at him. "You know why" she said finally. "If I hadn't then Henry wouldn't be mine, he would have followed her, would have demanded to live with her, would have told lies about me to get it and then he would have got her back here. You know it, and…you think that Emma Swan is the worst? When the shit hits the fan I'm dead. There going to come for me and swing me from the rafters of the town hall"

"I wont let that happen" Jack said finally. He didn't know much but he knew he wasn't going to let that happen.

Regina laughed once without humour.

"Regina…I would have kept them apart you know I would have, I get where you come from on this, I know the kid needs help, still will need help after this because some of the stuff he's done trying to prove himself is not normal, whatever happens I will be in your corner as far as Emma is concerned"

Regina looked at him for a long moment. "You say that now" she said finally as if she was saying goodbye to an old friend. Jack smiled at her.

"I've seen enough and I've lost enough to know I don't want bloodshed anymore. And I've never really lost a fight before, I've seen you fight for Henry, now you get to see me fight for Emma"

"Don't underestimate them" Regina said shaking her head. "Don't Jack, there powerfully manipulative, they will have the town behind them by lunchtime tomorrow and Snow White has never put a foot wrong as far as people are concerned, the only person who sees her and Charming like I do is Gold and even then he only wades in when it suits him. Watch them and don't trust anyone, not the seven little dwarfs, not Granny, not Ruby none of them. They know how to make people love them and forget the mistakes they've made. Being a hero is a game just as much as being a villain is, I wasn't perfect and I played dirty and I've got blood on my hand but they never called me Evil until Snow White did"

Jack took that in and then nodded. He understood, or he thought he understood. Trust nobody and get your hands dirty if you had to. He could do that, he had never believed in the whole hero and villain thing anyway. He had been at war too much to see the world that black and white, he had blood on his hands too and ghosts in his closet.

"Take care" was all he said. Emma knocked on the door effectively cutting of Regina's response. She held his gaze for a second longer than she should have done and then she was gone and Jack was left with a sleeping (and possibly dying) ten year old and the feeling that from this moment on nothing was ever going to be the same again.

He really did think he was getting too old for this.

* * *

For a split second the world went white and then Blue opened her eyes and remembered. Her name was Blue, she was a fairy and Emma Swan had broken the curse and saved her son. Henry was awake and grinning as if he had no idea what his gamble had put them through, Emma who had been trembling and holding her father's hand while Regina had held the other one was sobbing with a mixture of grief and elation. Regina's legs went out from under her and Captain Reynolds caught her before she hit the floor.

Blue turned to Whale who looked to be in the same state of shock and then she turned to see Captain Reynolds whisper something to Regina. Regina looked up at him then and for a second they were so close they could have been kissing. For a second they stayed there hand clasped and Regina…no…the Evil Queen smiled one of her trademark smiles and then crossed the room. She said something to Henry that Blue overhead ("I do love you") and then she was gone.

Emma turned to her father who was smiling and looking ten years younger and Blue was left to wonder what it was that he had said to give the Evil Queen something to smile about. What Captain Reynolds had said and what side he was really on.

She opened her mouth to ask him, to demand of him what he was doing and what side he was on and had he just given the Queen another weapon in her arsenal but he had already turned back to his daughter and the dismissal to both her and Whale was clear. This was not a man Blue knew who was going to roll over quietly when Snow and Charming got here. This was not a man who was going to work with his daughter's parents who was going to let them in her life, who was going to make it easy. Captain Reynolds was preparing for a war he had been in preparation for, for a long time.

Blue wondered if that made him less or more dangerous than Regina and the Dark One right now and was unnerved to realise that she wasn't sure. This town had already been ripped apart once by two mothers fighting over their child. She wasn't sure weather or not it could survive three parents at war. She should ensure that peace was at hand. That was what fairies did anyway.

"What's that?" Henry asked and Blue looked up to see purple smoke coming towards them. She knew what it was, she knew who had conjured it and she knew that it meant that they would have to screw onto their courage and their bravery and be brave.

"Magic" Whale muttered turning to her for confirmation and she nodded though she imagined that nothing had reached the three people on the bed together.

So she thought as the smoke came towards them with increasing speed. The Evil Queen and The Dark One were consolidating their power again. The curse had broken and nothing was ever going to be the same again.

Yes, it was time to be brave indeed.

* * *

 **And there you go, hope you enjoyed.**

 **Next Chapter-Start of Season 2. The family attempts to rebuild. Emma meets her parents, Jack takes in his measure, Regina is in hiding and then something happens...**

 **Enjoy.**


	12. Crash And Burn

**Hi, so here is another chapter that I worked through really fast to get to you and the first of Season 2!**

 **Also some of Jack's past is going to be explained in the upcoming chapters as well as some of the Charming's point of view. I dont like them as characters past Season 1 much but I apricate that some of you do so I will go into their point of view and what they feel.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 12-Crash and Burn

Start of Season 2. The family attempts to rebuild. Emma meets her parents, Jack prepares for battle and takes in his measure of the enemy. Regina is in hiding and then in prision and then in hiding again and then something happens that forces feelings to come to the surface.

* * *

She couldn't hug them back. She didn't want to hug them back. This morning they had been her friend and her lover and she didn't want them to be her parents. She didn't want them to be her Mom and Dad even if Henry was thrilled. So she didn't hug them back and she was aware of the eyes that were watching her. Or more specifically one set of eyes.

It felt wrong.

It felt terribly, terribly wrong. Even if it did feel a little bit right.

Emma pulled back almost glad of the distraction that they were locking up Regina. Henry had asked them to save her and she had felt rather than seen Jack's eyebrows raise as if he had not thought that Henry had given a shit about his mother before now. But wait? Was she his mother now or Regina? Certainly her mother thought she was but then if you followed that logic that would mean David was…

No…she had one father and no mother and that was how she was going to keep it.

Jack had not said anything. David to his credit had held out his hand and shook it and said thank you for 'raising my daughter' but he had no said anything. He had the look of a man who was thinking hard. Emma was all for him ordering her to get into the car and then driving the hell away from this town right now but when he wasn't staring out the window he was staring at Regina and she remembered that Mary Margaret had thought that something was between them. Regina stared at him sometimes but her blank terrible expression didn't give away anything and Emma had never been able to read Jack when he locked himself away like that.

Gold had brought back magic and cursed Regina. Emma had to recap the events of the day in her head just so she could understand them. She was now the saviour and the daughter of her roommate, her father was maintaining a stony kind of silence and there was a spirt thing chasing after the other mother of her son who was now with a glorified werewolf. And everyone was looking at her as if they expected to have the answers as if yesterday she had not just been shouted at like a little girl and as if this morning she had not just watched her son die.

First thing was first until she figured this out she was moving in with Jack. Jack was her safe place he always had been. What he would say to her demand that her son (that he thought crazy and probably still did) would live with them she had no idea. Jack was detached at best and Emma had been in the same way and they gelled together because they didn't like emotions in the same way they didn't like country music. Henry was different. He wanted validation and Jack had been right the kid had put himself in danger and been rude and she had indulged him because she had wanted to spend time with him. If she was going to be a mother to him now she had to control him in a way that didn't have him running back to either Regina or Snow White's.

"You like em them?"

They were at Granny's Henry jumping around the people asking and confirming stories even as they were prepared for another night of battering winds and howling and chaos. Emma snorted. These were the first words Jack had spoken to her all day and they were about those two. Snow White and Prince Charming.

"I have a family. You. I wasn't wrong when I said that I don't forget that. I know who was there for me when I had nightmares and who picked me up after Neal and who was therefore me when I gave birth and who was standing outside of that jail when I got out. I don't forget it. I never forget it. At best they can be my friends but right now I'm too angry with them for shoving me through a damn tree to allow them to be anything else"

Jack smiled a genuine one and then curled an arm around her. She rested her head upon his shoulder and closed her eyes. Had she opened them she would have seen Henry's strange and somewhat disappointed look, the way the towns people had gone quiet and the muttering that the saviour didn't want to re-join the Royal Family but instead wanted her solidly mortal father. She would have seen her biological mother's frown and her biological father look away as if the image was painful and the way everyone seemed to comfort them.

But she didn't.

Jack did however.

* * *

Regina had been right.

It had been like a painting one of those ones from time gone by where they painted people in poses and they'd had no choice but to watch them. It was like watching actors.

Oh Jack had no doubt that the two people in front of him shooting him strange looks loved Emma. He knew the tears and the disbelief and the way that Mary Margaret had clutched at his daughter had been genuine. But he knew that they didn't know how to deal with him and he had the sneaking suspicion that they had fallen into the roles of leaders first rather than parents. Ok fair enough they didn't have a clue about Emma and Jack might have…should have helped them but he didn't. Talking to Emma didn't do any good unless you were shouting and they weren't going to do that. If talking had done any good right now they wouldn't be here and Henry wouldn't have existed because she would have never have ran off with Neal.

No. He wasn't going to help them with Emma. It might be petty and it might be selfish but he wasn't going to make it easier for them to take her away from him and he paused breathing in deep thinking. He needed to talk to Regina. She alone knew how to do a battle like this though he wouldn't posion the Charming's to win.

But God could he see where she had come from.

They had a regal presence that Jack suspected was stronger than anything but at the same time felt fake like cheep tarnished silver. Give Regina her credit, her regal presence had been stronger than pure gold. She had knack of walking into a room and commanding everyone's attention weather or not it was via fear or awe. She had never been dependant on anyone's love because she had known who she was and that she didn't need anyone to get what she wanted. These two on the other hand needed people to love them. They wanted it not because it made them stronger but Jack suspected because they liked the feeling of being adored rather than feared and as an officer he knew the former would get more people killed.

That night Emma spent the night with him and Henry followed her and Jack had a feeling that while he might have won this victory the war was just beginning.

* * *

Regina looked up as Jack came in. For a second they were alone and she smiled at him. Jack winked at her and then jerked his head and Regina took that to mean that the Charming's were coming and she ran a hand through her hair and straightened her spine. She had been told she would be a Queen from birth and loss had taught her harder lessons than that. She wouldn't bow or break in front of Snow White or Emma Swan. Jack nodded at her in approval as they all walked in and Regina felt that strengthen her resolve alone.

God she loathed both of them she thought looking at them. She hoped Jack defeated both of them. Regina had took their daughter away but she hoped Jack would keep her. For that bitch Snow White that would be the worst punishment and Regina would burn happy in that knowledge that Emma Swan would never recognise them as her parents. She had prepared Jack for the battle ahead. Please God he was ready for it.

They asked her about the wraith and she answered the questions perfectly. They couldn't destroy it and she'd had a long night to prepare for death, this was not the first night she had prepared for death with some Shepard playing judge, jury and executioner. Henry was her only regret, what she had done. She would never regret the pain she had caused the woman who had ripped Daniel from her.

So when David said Regina had the problem she didn't comment. She could have made a crack about how that wasn't the best parenting example to set but she didn't. She was composed and she had a feeling it was showing up both of the woman with him. They had expected her to protest and beg. They had never expected to be so detached and so…Queen-like.

Well they had underestimated her again it seemed. Perhaps she would see Daniel again this very night and feel the peace she had lost when he had lost his life.

"Are you insane?" Jack said his tone so cold and so filled with something unnameable that she turned her composure breaking a little to stare at him. Emma turned to stare at him.

"You don't know her like I do" David began but Jack pushed himself off the wall and moved so that they were nose to nose and he was looking down on David Nolan with all the disgust as if he had been a private who had crapped out.

"I know her, and I know you and let me tell you something David Nolan king or upstart, or whoever you are I have never left a person alone in a battle and I don't intend to start now. I was raised on honour and courage and decency and while you might not want to apply those values to yourself I will continue to uphold them so I don't spit on the men who died while I served. You can go and run and be a coward if you want to but I am staying here and fighting and If live I will make It my mission to make sure everyone sees how fake and pathetic their king is, a little boy trying to be a man."

Regina could have cried with joy.

She shot a look at Emma Swan who was for once looking at her. David gulped and stepped back and with a superb distain Jack turned on his heel and sat down again taking out his gun and cleaning it in a clear dismissal as if he had said it. Emma was biting her lip though Regina suspected she was rather amused. Emma was easy, while Henry wanted Regina alive, Emma Swan was going to keep Regina alive.

"Can I come out now then?" she asked cutting through the silence.

Thank God this man wasn't going to bend over. She might have a shot at getting her son back if only she could break the bonds between them.

It went better than she expected.

* * *

The wraith was gone, Emma and that _woman_ were gone too.

David had made a move for her but her magic had gotten there before Jack could even though he punched him in the mouth for the whole throwing her against the wall. Before Jack could move though she'd had the magic back and David was choking on veins.

And then Henry walked in

"Sorry about the kid" Jack said finally. They were standing in the wreckage of the aftermath. The wraith thing was gone, Emma was gone. He didn't care about Mary Margaret beyond that.

Regina ran a hand through her hair.

"I didn't want…I didn't want her dead" she said finally. "Emma" as if there could be any doubt about who she meant.

"I know she's not dead" Jack said finally. "I'd feel it, you're a mother you know you'd feel it. You did. Parents know"

Regina opened her mouth at the simplicity he was clinging onto and then she shut it. She had no idea Jack thought that he was on the verge of breaking, better nobody knew. He was an officer and if the officers fell apart then everyone else would. The last time he had felt like this he had held…no…he was not going there tonight.

"I'm sorry Henry rejected you" she said finally.

Jack laughed. "Sweetheart in the mood I'm in it's probably a good thing that he's with David and not me. I'm glad he's alive don't get me wrong but I want to strangle him at the same time."

"What are you going to do?" she asked him. Jack shrugged.

"Wait it out. She comes back trust me she'll find a way. I know Emma, I raised Emma, I have knowledge that those two will never know and I have confidence that she'll come back. Its not like I'm fighting for custody here. I know my girl. I know who I raised and I know how she thinks, I know she loves me, I know she sees me as her Dad and the rest is all immaterial"

Regina had to give him his confidence if nothing else.

"What will you do?" he asked finally.

"Hide" Regina said shortly. "Rebuild, get my magic back, your not the only one who can prepare for a long hard slog. They haven't beaten me yet. I will get my son back and I will get my revenge. The only way they can stop me is kill me and they couldn't do that even when they captured me that one time. I told you, it's not just them, they have to look like merciful heroes otherwise what makes them different from me?"

"There are different from you" Jack said quietly.

Regina shot him another look and then nodded and then in a puff of purple smoke she was gone as if she knew that there was no simple truth between them and painfully aware that she had left him no way of contacting him.

He was alone.

Jack pulled out his gun and fired without blinking at the spot David Nolan had been in ten minutes previously. It was now nothing but a concrete pillar. He was pleased to see that all of the shots hit their mark even at this distance with his eyes not what they used to be. Good.

One thing was for certain. He was Jack Reynolds of the United States Marine Corps, brother to Henry Reynolds, father to Emma Swan and grandfather to her son Henry. He was a Marine through and through and father and a fighter through blood and death. He had known loss and held people in his arms while they had died, and he knew grimly that no jumped up upstart like David Nolan, his wife who had been a mother for five minutes and thought that because she got their first she was better than him, or a anyone else who tried to pretend that they were perfect or that he was anything other than those things were not taking his daughter off him without one hell of a fight.

* * *

 **Thank you all for your kind words and reviews and keep them coming! They mean a lot.**

 **Also things might be skipped over in the first few episodes as I have only eleven chapters to get through Season 2 and some episodes matter more to this story than others so please keep that in mind when reading.**

 **Next Chapter-Emma and Snow share a moment. David proposes an alliance. Jack knows things (more than he lets on anyway) and there is a new villain on the edge of the town that only Regina can help defeat. **

**Enjoy.**


	13. A Woman Scorned

**And there you go, here is another chapter and I hope you enjoy it. I hope that I can update sooner rather than later but work is a bit stressing at the minute so...**

 **I will do one more update and then the next couple of updates will be uploaded around Christmas in a mass update that I have done before.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine just this plot and Jack.**

 **Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.**

* * *

Who Is He? (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 13-A Woman Scorned

Emma and Snow share a moment, David meanwhile proposes an alliance. Jack knows things (more than he lets on anyway) and there is a new villain on the edge of the town that only Regina can help defeat.

* * *

The clean up mess was unbelievable. It was mindless work helping out and work he could very well and he took it upon himself to help clear the roads away and help the kids who were just as confused and scared as they could be some of the caught between the families that only two days ago had been raising them and the ones that had been raising them all their lives before.

There was always talk of before. Before the curse, before Emma, before Regina. And Jack who was Regina's defender nine times out of ten couldn't reconcile himself to what she had done. The curse had been bad. It had been Evil. The issue for Jack was weather or not it was justified. All his life he had fought for things that were justified weather it be to him, the government, foreign powers or anything else. As he told himself this was nothing different.

And more to the point he had bigger things to worry about.

David seemed to have taken on (without asking) the right to look after Henry. Jack gave it maybe another day before Regina made a play for her son and he suspected that she would probably win, (those vines sent shivers down his spine and had he not seen them then he probably wouldn't have believed that stuff like that could happen). That was fine with Jack who had no desire to raise Emma's son who was proving more and more as the days went by that even though he looked a little bit more like Emma—he was every bit Neal's son.

Regina was also something that could wait. She had gone to consolidate her magic but Jack knew she would never hurt him. With Emma missing that was someone else off her firing line and he would have to trust in his daughter to get herself home safe. She had always done so before and Jack trusted and believed in Emma. Snow White was in his book neither use nor ornament. If Emma came back without her biological mother then Jack would sleep just fine. If she did…then he would have to find a way for the three of them to live together.

During the break that came during the day he could look around and observe what was going on. Granny would pass him a bowl of soup and a hunk of bread and much like he had done twenty years ago whenever he remembered to pull his head out of the engine long enough to eat or when he had been commanded too by an officer. You ate fast while it was still hot and then you went back to work and you didn't ask questions. Even Iz had never gotten him out of that habit. Emma had. Emma who at the age of five had sat and ate her soup slowly as if she savoured every mouthful her little legs dangling off his chair.

And then he had to think about something else because thinking about Emma hurt.

The door to the diner opened and in came David Nolan. Out of the two of the parents he could see that Emma had resembled more of her father than her mother. She had his hair, his nose and his stance a little. Jack took another mouthful of soup as David grabbed his coffee and sat down opposite him without being asked.

"We need to talk" he said finally. Jack put down his spoon and reached for his own coffee.

"If this is about Regina then I don't know where she is" he said finally.

"No I know where she is she's at her house though I have a feeling that her magic's back because Archie saw her going to Gold's and I wouldn't put anything past her. Also nobody can go over the town line. We revert back to our past lives."

"You do, I don't" Jack pointed out but he took that to mean that if he was too leave with Emma nobody could follow them. Of course the same could be said of Regina but that was another days problem right now he didn't have to think about what she was doing, magic or no magic she wasn't the immediate threat in front of him. He had no idea if this man was however so he leaned back in his chair and watched David as the younger man tried to find the words that he wanted to say.

"Look" he said finally. "I…I want us to work together in this. I'd like Henry to stay with me for the time being. Not because I doubt you but…well…"

"He can stay with you" Jack said finally. He didn't want to explain to David that he didn't like the fact that his grandson had brought this down upon them and he also didn't want to explain that comment he had made that Jack wasn't family for Emma. He didn't think he could bare to say that in front of this man. He really didn't.

David nodded.

"We need to work together you and me. Emma…Emma is both our daughter, I am preparing to compromise here. I don't want what happened with Regina and Emma to happen between us. I don't want us tearing each other apart over her. This town needs a leader and I cannot carry the burden of this alone"

The without my wife bit was heavily implied but Jack leaned back in his seat a bit more and tried not to stare at David Nolan knowing that he would see aspects of his daughters face back in his. He traced his finger around the rim of his mug. He knew they were being watched. He could feel Granny's eyes in the side of his head and he knew that he was being watched for his reaction like he was being watched for his convoy movements. He remembered what Regina had told him about the Charming's and their desire to look like heroes rather than being them.

But…but…

He wouldn't deny that it would take a lot to fool him but he was pretty sure that David Nolan didn't have the satisfaction to do it. As Regina had said he was hero even if it wasn't as black and white as that. And also he had to admit if the man was genuine then it did take something to stand here and look the man who had raised his daughter and try and compromise. There was a pause where he sat there tracing the rim of his coffee mug with his finger and then he pulled his finger off his mug and then he sighed.

"Ok" he said finally. "Compromise. Let's get this town back up and running and when we get Emma back we can go from there"

David nodded leaning back against the seat and the two of them stared at each other for a second and then he nodded.

"Leave Regina alone" was all Jack said. "She's threatened when she's cornered and when she's cornered then she's going to strike. You don't corner her then she's going to be fine"

David stared at him. "With all due respect Jack you don't know her" he said finally.

"With all due respect David" Jack said just as quietly. "You don't know her either"

* * *

All her feelings about her parents had boiled down to this. To this little wooden crib on it's side and the remains of stuffed toys and the realisation that her mother and father had gone through hell to get her too safety. It made her angry at Regina and angry at herself for thinking that Mary Margaret didn't care. And then with the thought of Henry there was always the thought of Jack and she took a deep breath.

"Jack's my Dad you know" she said looking at the ashes of what had once been her ride home and she was aware of Mary Margaret turning around to look at her and she figured it was only the decent thing to do, to look around as she stared at this woman and told her the truth.

"I get it. Now I do. You never wanted any of this. You never had a say in this. But as far as I am concerned I have a family, I have my Dad, I don't know how you fit into this I really don't but please understand that with me comes Jack. I don't know how to live without him"

She was shaking, sobbing silently though she didn't know why. Her…Mary Margaret was watching with wide eyes and then she crossed the room and pulled her into another hug.

"I know" she said finally. "And I like Jack. But Emma when we get back you need to watch him around Regina because he liked her. Under the curse he liked her and…Emma…Regina is…well, you know"

Emma did know but she didn't want to admit the possibility that this woman was right. Jack…Jack had never shown any interest in woman her entire life. She was going to cling to that until she had clear proof that anything was different. Right now she just wanted to get back to her son, her father and the crazy mess that was her life right now because that was better than what she had right now which was nothing but the knowledge that despite the insanity that was Regina…it was clear her mother was much worse.

* * *

She had let him go. Regina had let her son walk off with her worst enemy and she could feel the loss in her grow like a hole that she knew was never going to be filled until he was back in his room in her house again.

Why the hell had she done that.

Oh…because of Cora. Because she could never be a mother like Cora had been. And she had been turning into Cora.

David had gone, Henry had gone. Jack was still there.

"Would you like me to stay?" he asked finally as his grandson walked off leaning into the side of his enemy. Regina shook her head. Pride was keeping her upright and pride was going to keep her going until the door shut. She didn't need him here to see her break and she thought perhaps he understood that because he shut the door on his way out leaving her alone in her empty house the wheel of fortune completely on its edge and only when she was sure that she couldn't hear his footsteps did the Evil Queen surrender to a storm of weeping.

Leaving her there was wrong. Jack knew that even though she had asked for it. She had looked small and broken and even if he hadn't been half in love with her he would have never left her there alone because she had looked dwarfed in size. Nonetheless he had to give it to her, she had all the style of a queen in that moment she had admitted defeat and stood there with her head held high. A woman scorned indeed but a queen without a shadow of a doubt.

As the days trickled into weeks and he had to deal with the dinners Henry insisted on throwing where he and David were forced to sit there and pretend that each wasn't taking the measure of each other were getting worse and worse. He had to admit David had a certain charm but his heroic streak was more suicidal. Jack who still viewed the world as if he was at war (and he would admit to that) knew that if David Nolan was serving under him he would have him sent straight back to boot-camp with a reprimand and a warning to never come near him again. It was a combination of recklessness and poor decisions that masqueraded as a leader. He had the qualities of them but none of the training and while Jack knew that came with time he had to wonder how many people would die before that came.

Anyway he had to give David one thing. He let him know when something was happening. A week after Emma's disappearance he got a text message after he was helping a man named Michael down at the garage with the orders that were coming through (he was the father of those twins who were apparently Hansel and Gretel and didn't that fuck him over). There was another bad guy on the horizon, Henry had been having dreams and that if he had any clue how to get Regina out of hiding David needed him to do it now.

Bristling at the thought of taking order from a man ten years younger than him he called Regina anyway.

"Sweetheart" he said without preamble. "I need you to dig in deep and get your shit together. Your mother's about to come to town"

* * *

 **So there you go-let me know what you think and I will endeavour to update sooner rather than later.**

 **Also next chapter will jump around the episodes of the first arc of Season 2 quite a bit so please keep that in mind when reading.**

 **Next Chapter-A plan is put in motion, Regina is forced to choose a side. David takes his measure in Jack and Emma makes her last stand in the Enchanted Forest even though her thoughts are preoccupied by a certain pirate. **


	14. Head Games

**Hi, so here is another chapter, I hope that you enjoy this one. I apologise for the lateness but with Christmas and uni the work has just been none stop. Let me know what you think and I will try and tack on another chapter to this one as well. Again some chapters including the next one may skip of gloss over certain episodes or events.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 14-Head Games

A plan is put in motion. Regina has to choose a side, David takes the measure of Jack Reynolds and Emma makes her last stand in the Enchanted Forest even if her thoughts are preoccupied by the image of a certain pirate.

* * *

"So your Mom's she's pretty powerful?" Henry asked his face creased up in worry.

"Not as powerful as I am" Gold said from the wall.

Regina snorted. "Debatable" she said a teasing smirk on her face and Gold smiled back at her and Jack was never more aware as in that moment that the two of them had been teacher and student and perhaps their version of friends for more than a hundred years than he had been in that moment. He had to grind his teeth together and look away. Emma had been missing for more than a week and he didn't like the fact that she was so far away with a homicidal witch after her and nobody but Mary Margaret Blanchard with her.

The week had not been eventless to say the least. David he would admit had the makings of a good leader but a lot of it was instinct for himself and nothing about what was good for the people. The Ruby debacle had cemented that. David should have locked her up for that first full moon himself and certainly should not have had her trampling over the evidence. Even if she had been innocent it had lost them the magic hat and Jefferson reunited with his daughter had told them emphatically that he was not building them another one and that had ended up with a punch up and a small girl clutching at Jack's leg when he had bodily thrown David out of the diner.

(God that had felt good)

But Henry was having nightmares, magical nightmares (because there was a difference apparently). He was communicating between a woman in a room full of fire, it had something to do with a sleeping curse and now David was prepared to go into an eternal slumber and communicate with his wife.

Jack was torn between thinking that that was the better of two options and that it was insane. He agreed with both David and Regina that Henry was not going under again because that burn made him shiver and think of the desert again and he was not going under because well…he had no such assurance that anyone was going to be able to wake him up. That left David who at least could communicate with his wife but there was no way he could communicate with them meaning that in Jack's eyes the whole thing was pointless.

Though he might be being a bit bitter about the whole thing.

It also left Regina in complete control again and the woman had a look on her face that Jack had to contemplate. Had Emma not been a factor in this he would tell Regina to leave David as he was, take back her son, take back her power and leave the Charming's to rot but he wasn't that naïve. Chances are that wouldn't work and he had been Emma's father before anything for most of his life. That blonde whirlwind meant more to him than anything and it was certainly the main reason why he wasn't running for the hills right now.

And Jack…well…Jack wasn't sure if he wanted to stay here even when she did come back. David at least being unconscious meant that he wasn't in Jack's face all the time. Maybe he could smother him with a pillow and blame it on Gold who was now dating a woman young enough to be his daughter?

Interesting idea he had to admit.

* * *

For a split second the fire didn't matter, the heat and the flames and the danger did not matter whatsoever because he was looking at his wife for the first time in a long time and even though her hair was gone and her face was thinner and her body was not trembling having just given birth and knowing that they were about to be separated.

For a split second none of that mattered.

Because his wife was back in front of him.

They exchanged their information quickly. Emma was alright. They had made the acquaintance of a pirate by the name of Hook though David had no idea why that was important, but he stored the name away for further details and then his wife spoke her voice soft amid the roaring of the flames as if she knew that what she had to say was going to annoy him somewhat.

"She still loves Jack"

David sighed. He knew that, that was coming. Jack had been his daughter's father for years and he had not had the chance to have as much as a conversation with her. Not to mention he had been struggling with Jack since the two of them had been left alone to rebuild the town. There was a chance that he and Emma could rebuild their relationship but as far as Jack Reynolds had been concerned they had focused on rebuilding the town and micro-managing Regina rather than dealing with the issue that they were both fathers to a woman and only one of them had seen the girl she had been.

"I know…Snow…he's not…he's not a bad guy not really. I mean he thinks Regina is alright but I don't think that he's ever going to do anything wrong and as far as Emma is concerned his loyalty to her is unshakable."

But his wife was already shaking her head.

"Charming I saw him in the curse. I saw him in the moment when it was Emma against Regina and Henry was the one caught in the middle and he was half in love with her. We have to watch him when we return Charming because I don't trust him. I don't trust him with Regina"

David wondered if it was because he was the parent that their daughter had never had and she had in fact told her that Jack was going to stick around but he remembered Jack standing up for Regina and the look on her face when she saw him. She did look like she was looking for an ally and he would always smile at her. David had always chalked it down to the fact that Jack was still unknowing in this world but now…but now he was not so sure.

Could his wife be right? Could the man who had been the parent to his daughter be her enemy in the end? Could Regina still now, at this moment of defeat still triumph?

That thought was interrupted by a beam of wood falling from the ceiling separating them and his wife leapt back and left him there in the room filled with flames and David had nothing left to do but ponder weather or not he had left his grandson in the hands of two enemies rather than one.

He bit his bottom lip looking around and knowing that there was not much more that he could do.

* * *

Emma paused looking around the lake it was almost like she could sense him in the forest lurking around. She found that she wanted him to come out and confront her. There was something about Captain Hook that made her want to immediately apologise for doubting him and explain that it had only been the desire to be with her son again that had made her doubt him and not much else.

But still she was not sure what to do when it came to the man with the piercing eyes and the crooked smile. Not that Emma could allow herself to feel like that once more.

The last time had ended with her pregnant and in prison and she not going to go through that again.

No matter how charming the smile was.

And with that Emma Swan gritted her teeth and prepared to fight another deal with another devil with a handsome smile.

And this time she was not planning to sleep with him.

Maybe.

All that mattered though was her son. All that had to matter was her son and her father and getting back to them. And hopefully they could jump through the portal in one piece and get back home. Her biological parents could never no matter what their relationship sever her bond with Jack-she owed him too much.

* * *

Regina took a deep breath as she watched her son walk off. She had chosen the side that she had never expected to and it was her son. It was her child and he had just walked off with another woman and the man…Jack…had just walked off with them his arm around his daughter and the other one touching her son's shoulder.

The only plus side was that it was clear as far as Jack was concerned his family, the family he wanted for Emma did not include the Charming's because he gave no indication that he had even seen the two of them hugging when he had wrapped one hand around their daughter's waist and walked off with her as if they were nothing but strangers and Emma had followed her head on his shoulder and looking far younger than she had ever done so before.

She herself had used her magic to disappear. Promise to Henry or not there was only so much of Gold's teasing that she could put up with and she bit her bottom lip when she arrived home in her house behind her magical wards because she knew there was no way that Henry was going to walk through them ever again. Emma aside the insipid Charming's had won and now her mother was going to come through the portals (because that bitch always did find a way) and she was going to be in danger all over again. Gold would take care of himself he always did—not even Belle was immune to that surviving factor and she would have to decided what to do.

Well she knew right now what she was going to do. If Emma and the Charming's—the drip that was the Not-Prince and that _bitch_ he was married to wanted to pretend to be royal, then they could take on Cora. Emma Swan was desperate to be the only mother for Henry then she could take on Cora and Regina would sit and watch and see who would be the last one standing.

She was filled with righteous anger and the wine glass she was holding shattered. She crunched the glass under her boot and smiled. God she was back. The Evil Queen was back. Cora had been gone a long time and she had changed a lot since then. Perhaps she could win against her mother.

There was a knock at the door and she went to open it. She did not expect Henry at best Emma and her parents and she was prepared to face them. She would give them what they needed to take on her mother but she was not prepared to lift a finger to help them. This was the only way she could survive this either way.

It wasn't Emma. It was Jack.

For a second she stared at him. She was too tired and too emotional to get into the debate with him over what had happened today and how much he knew and where her son was sleeping tonight and she paused looking at him. He seemed to be warring with something and it was a strange kind of emotion to see on his face.

Hell it was strange enough for her to see him as anything other than put together.

"Ask me in Regina. Cause I don't know about you but I don't want to talk anymore. I'm too damn sick of fighting this" he said softly. Regina blinked. There was something more to this of that she was sure.

"Jack" she said just as soft but then his mouth was on hers with a vengeance and she found she couldn't stop herself weather this was a good idea or a very stupid idea (and she knew deep down which one it was)

Jack didn't pause to stop, didn't tell her anything and she went with him with the feeling in the moment. She had lost her son. She had gained Jack.

And when he held out his hand beaming like a schoolboy she locked her house back up and following him to her bedroom, to her bed and to something that once upon a time ago had felt like joy.

* * *

 **And there you go let me know what you think.**

 **Next Chapter-Regina is framed. The Charming's are relentless and a tad calculating. Emma is horrified and furious. Jack meanwhile both thinks that now is the time for tough love and is apologetic. Flashback to the one and only time that this has been employed **


	15. Royals And Loyals

**Hi, so here finally is another chapter, I apologise for the lateness of this chapter but I have been struck down by the dreaded Christmas cold and then by computer issues but I do have two chapters for you.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine just this chapter.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

 **Flashbacks in italics.**

 **I will try and update sooner rather than later and before the new year but if for whatever reason I dont I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a very safe and happy 2019.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?) 

Chapter 15-Royals And Loyals 

Regina is framed. Snow White is a tad calculating and in doing so ensures Emma makes a big mistake, Emma is both horrified, furious and resigned by Regina's alibi. Jack meanwhile thinks that it's time for some tough love and a flashback is included to the one time where he employed that tactic. Flashback in italics. 

* * *

Now

* * *

He got the phone call two days into his and Regina's…well…hideaway he supposed. Jack wasn't sure what he was supposed to call it. It looked and sounded like a dirty little secret affair but he had never been in a dirty little secret affiar before. Even his one nights stands had always been out in the open. Now he was hiding out in the Mayor's house eating his way through her apple pie and turning his phone off in case his daughter rang.

Of course the sex was…well…fantastic but that was besides the point. Other than the fabulous sex he and Regina had not said much about what would happen when the door was opened and they had to step outside into the world. They didn't talk about that, actually they didn't talk about anything very much.

And Jack while not being the best at relationships didn't have to be a complete idiot to figure out that there might be a reason for that one.

But anyhow he got the phone call from his daughter two days in when he plugged his phone on charge. He wouldn't underestimate Emma in her pursuits to find him and he would rather have her in a soundproofed and preferably padded room away from the Charming's when he dropped the bombshell that he was dating, or at the very least sleeping with Regina Mills the woman his daughter was swearing up and down was her enemy (although he didn't know how much of that was still understandable pent up anger on Emma's part over what happened to Henry and how much of it was the influence of Snow White who had, had ample time to plead her side of the story) until death.

It wasn't the best plan he had come up with but Jack had gone to war on less formed plans and had on more than one occasion won a skirmish or two due to them as well.

"Em?"

"Hey where have you been?"

Ugh. Well may as well go with the truth she was going to find out anyway.

"I went to see Regina. Figured until you had a plan we should try and keep her from blowing up the town"

Regina who was in the bathroom snorted. Jack flashed a grin at her.

"Oh…Dad I need you to get out of there now. Regina murdered Archie. Also I have magic"

Jack took a moment to let that sink in. Both facts.

"Emma give me ten minutes"

He hung up the phone.

"Did you murder anyone while I was asleep?"

"No" Regina said wiping her hands on a towel. "But this could be a ruse so she could turn Henry against me"

Jack would like to say that his daughter would never stoop so low as to do that but then remembered Regina's hands were most certainly not clean in any regards and also Emma had been through hell the last two months (also she had willingly once ran away with that idiot Neal Cassidy but the less said about him the better)

"And the magic thing?"

"Oh…well I suppose it makes sense, she is the child of true love after all"

Jack buried his head in the pillow and let out a low groan. Maybe there was something to be said for the bliss of ignorance.

* * *

Emma stared at him for a long second. Actually, it may have been longer than a few seconds because she was sure that the time had been going on without a shadow of a doubt and she had not been going on along with it.

Emma was staring at her father trying to comprehend the one thing that he had just told her. To his credit Jack was staring back at her—the one thing that you could never say about Jack Reynolds was that he wouldn't look you in the eye as he dropped a bombshell on you after all and Emma took both comfort and strength from that in a way she had always done so even though the shock was beginning to wear off and the anger was beginning to creep in.

Jack didn't look away.

"I said Regina couldn't have killed Archie because she has spent the last two days in bed with me"

Emma couldn't help the eye roll. Also she had a feeling that she might be acting a bit hypocritical but she couldn't help it. She was hurt damn it! Both David and Mary Margaret had warned her this was coming both in their cursed life and in their actual one as Emma's mother and father and yet she had ignored everything and now this had completely sandbagged her.

She sat down opposite the desk and wished that she didn't have an audience to this.

"I saw it.."

"You saw—if you saw anything—and you know what I think about the idea of magic Emma unless you were in that room with Archie then you didn't see Regina do it. I was with Regina. I was with Regina all night. You were in Gold's shop. Even I know his bonds of loyalty are…contested on a good day. You don't think he might have a reason to get rid of Regina by using his magic to frame her? You don't think others have the same reason?"

By others Emma knew that he meant the two people standing in the room with them. She nipped her lip with her teeth and tried to think about what he was saying rather than what he had been doing the other night.

"Say your right" she said because she had never doubted her father and she was not about to start now. She ignored the two exclamations behind her.

"Then why would Gold set her up?"

Jack stared at her. Emma shook her head. Gold…there would be a million reasons why he did what he did what he did and she would never be able to tell if he was lying. She'd been struggling to do that half of the time before he had her magic and he had been…helpful…which she would admit for Gold that was odd. Although…Belle?

Either way there was a lot of evidence stacked up against both theories. She trusted Jack, but she couldn't deny a lot of her issues were sorted if Regina was found guilty of this crime. She also couldn't deny the stake the town had in it. It was like a perfect crime and Regina…well Regina was a lot of things but she was certainly not stupid.

A cough brought her and Jack both of out their thoughts. It had been a while since she had done that, since they had communicated like that. Sometimes she thought she and her adopted father ran a little bit too closely on the same wire. She directed her thoughts away from the question of weather or not she would feel like that with David and turned her attention to him and her roommate turned…well…mother she supposed.

Oh that sounded strange. Even in her head. Emma hoped Mary Margaret didn't expect her to call her that because she was pretty sure that was never going to happen.

Like, ever.

There was a pause where she sat there thinking about what she was going to say next and found that she couldn't think of anything that didn't come across as childish and Emma was still in enough control of her emotions to know that she didn't want to come across as childish in this moment in time.

Jack however did know what she was thinking and he gave a long sigh.

"Emma you know it doesn't change anything"

Emma nodded because she did know that but at the same time she couldn't help but wonder if Regina had duped her Dad…Jack was the one thing that she had that Regina could still get at because she knew that she had Henry. The row the other night was fresh in her mind still…Regina had a point. There was going to be stuff that Regina knew about Henry better than she did and legally Henry was still in Regina's custody. Regardless of what this town might think there was no guarantee that two or three years down the line Henry might not want to move back in with Regina and the other woman knew that. All of this was a long game and Regina was good at them. The last one had lasted over two decades after all.

Could she honestly trust that woman?

Deep down Emma knew the answer to that.

There was never going to be a moment where she and Regina were friends. Allies for the sake of Henry they had been once before and Emma knew that for the sake of Henry they could be allies once again but friends? For the sake of Jack?

Not a chance in hell.

The sad smile had she been looking on Jack's face told her he had seen that indecisiveness in her and more and when he turned away she looked away too.

There was another cough which came from her left.

"Do you want a cough drop?" Jack asked his voice bordering annoyance as he took in her…her friend. Emma had to bit down hard on her lip.

Some things it seemed would never change.

And this particular conversation she knew turning, was not going to be a pretty one.

* * *

"You should tell Henry" his wife said suddenly over grilled cheese.

David looked at her in surprise. Emma had been universally against telling Henry anything until she had the facts and the facts as they were right now were pointing firmly in the direction of Regina not being responsible for Archie. David had no idea what telling Henry would accomplish other than to hurt the boy.

The scowl Emma shot told her mother what she thought of that idea. David nudged his wife under the table. They had managed to get lunch with their daughter which was nothing short of miraculous. They didn't need it to go sideways right now. Regina was bound to be a problem sooner rather than later. There was no reason why they had to compromise their morals for that. In David's opinion Regina was never going to change. All they had to do was sit back and let nature take it's course.

There was a pause where David sat there as Emma took another bite of cheese.

"No" she said finally. "I am not going to ruin whatever hope Henry has for his mother just because you claim to have more 'wisdom' about her than I do. I told you I have a superpower when it comes to things like this and I trust it and I trust Jack. If he says Regina wasn't sneaking out of the bed then she wasn't."

David sighed. He did think that while Jack had been a tremendous idiot he was right about this. Regina had been trying and while he didn't think that it would work he knew that she wasn't stupid enough to make a move without knowing where all her pieces on the chessboard were. The Evil Queen was nothing if not in it for the long haul. He swallowed.

"Then tell him about Regina and Jack…he deserves to know if his mother is seeing his grandfather"

Emma stared at her.

"I don't know if he is seeing her" she said finally after another mouthful. "And what does it matter? Henry doesn't care weather or not she's seeing Jack"

His wife was getting desperate now and David knew why and he also knew it wouldn't work. She thought a break between Regina and Jack would make whatever plan she had that came with the Enchanted Forest easier. David remembered the deal however that he had made with the other father in Emma's life and paused. Jack and Emma had been through a lot together. He understood his wife's desire for them to be a family again of course he did but at the same time he thought that perhaps trying to drive a wedge when it came to Jack might be a problem. David was a great believer that you needed to study an enemy before you attacked him head on. You had to see him fight.

His wife who had lived her whole life under the thumb of her stepmother did not see it like that—she believed that if there was a war on the horizon you should run towards it. Problem was both his daughter and his wife had the same sense of stubbornness and that was going to come back and hit him in the gut at some point of that he was sure.

"You should tell Henry something" she said finally. Emma nodded.

"I will" she said finally.

David wanted to say that she should soon because his wife would if not but he rather liked the idea of sex with his wife after being denied it for the last two decades or so and therefore he didn't.

In hindsight that might have been a big mistake.

* * *

It was Regina who found him. She looked like she had just had the wind knocked out of her and Jack barely had enough time to open his door fully before she shoved her way past him and into the living room looking like one good kick in the shoulders would take her down in a way that wouldn't have her rising up.

"Why does Henry know I am a suspect for murder?" she asked lowly.

Jack stared at her for a second and then let out some of the worst words that he had said since he had been in the service and had been covered in blood and…no…he wasn't going to think of his Henry right now. Regina's Henry was the one that demanded the attention.

"How do you know he knows?" he asked opening the door and slamming it shut behind him. Regina let out a harsh laugh and waved her fingers which Jack took to mean magic because that sort of stuff was still going over his head.

"I was listening" she hissed. "I had a feeling this would happen"

Jack stared at her.

"Emma told him?"

"Said that she wanted to be the kind of parent that was open and honest with him. Said that she knew what it was like to be lied to"

Jack felt his eyebrows go up at that.

"And now Henry thinks I did it. Didn't help that Snow White was there with her concerned look of doom"

"So what will you do now?" he asked. There was a dim kind of roaring in his ears that he didn't like so much.

"Go into hiding" Regina spoke her whole body vibrating with rage. "It's not the first time it wont be the last. I'll be in the vault and I will get my son back either way. You know where to find me"

And with that she disappeared leaving Jack furious and in need of a good smoke detector.

* * *

Emma had known it was coming as soon as the knock on the door happened. She had regretted telling Henry what had happened the second she had. She had only said what was the truth—or at least what Henry would pick up as the truth. The whole town knew most of what was going on. This was a small town and therefore they were going to hear things…Henry was going to hear things. Best he heard about it from her.

That was what she had said to herself. Her… mother…had backed it up to the hilt and only…David had remained silent. Emma trusted Jack. She trusted that he knew what he was doing. She believed him when he said that Regina had been with him that night and she believed her own instincts when she had been across the table from Regina asking her the questions.

And yet now she felt like she had just obliterated any hope her son had for his mother because she could. Because she was powerful. How did that make her any different than Regina? Did her mother and father really mean it when they said they wanted to be a secure family unit of four (she noted that when her mother spoke neither Regina nor Jack were included)or was she just another pawn, a piece on the chessboard to be played as Gold had warned her she would be—as she had been before she was even born.

She made another figure eight in her soup and then she stood up and went to the door before her mother got there. If anyone was going to dace the brunt of the anger opposite the wood then it may as well be her.

She ducked out of the door before anyone could see her. Jack was leaning against the door.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he asked. His voice was cold and Emma remembered the last time he had used a voice like that…

* * *

 _Then. _

* * *

_"_ _Have you lost your mind?" Jack asked as she finished tying the bag string. Emma shrugged. She had been eighteen at the time, she was free to go wherever she wanted. She was free to go wherever and with who she wanted._

 _And she wanted Neal._

 _He was still using the cold voice that told her what he thought of her plan. Emma didn't care._

 _"_ _I love Neal" she said finally._

 _Jack didn't say anything._

 _"_ _Alright" he said his voice still cold. "I've already rowed with you. But when this shit hits the fan Emma do me a favour and don't call me"_

* * *

Now. Continued.

* * *

Emma remembered what he had called it. Tough love.

She had called him eventually and he had come for her. Because he was her parent. She hadn't been sure then and she had not cared either way. Right now she did care because right now she couldn't tell if he was going to be there at the end of this…if this thing could even have a name or an ending.

"He was going to find out"

"Emma I don't care if he was going to find out. I don't care. You could have handed that. Regina overheard you. By the way thanks for the dig at me I appreciated it. But she heard you and you knew she must have been listening and you told that boy that you believed that his mother was guilty even when you knew he wasn't and that Emma…that is what I find so damn poisonous about this situation."

"I am not Regina" Emma fired back.

Jack looked at her sadly.

"Because you care about Henry?" he asked mockingly. "Sweetheart that was the same excuse she used. I fear that perhaps you are more like her than you think."

Emma breathed in and then breathed out. There was really nothing that she could say to that.

Jack shot her another long look and then turned and walked down the stairs. Emma didn't ask him when she would see him again. She didn't ask him what was going to happen now. She had created this mess like she had with Neal…Jack was telling her to fix it. Or perhaps he was too tired. God knows Emma knew the feeling.

Of all those times before she had met Jack where she had dreamed of her family with the exception of Henry she thought that she had been better off not knowing.

She slammed the door shut when she went back in, ignored both of them attempting not to overhear and slammed the door to her bedroom shut. In the morning she was looking for her own place but for tonight she just wanted to pretend that she was still the same Emma she had been before Henry had ate that apple turnover and not some sort of saviour who had the weight of the world on her shoulders and two parents with royal crowns that they wanted her to wear.

* * *

 **And there you go, I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think and I will endeavour to have the next chapter up sooner rather than later.**

 **Also please be aware that due to each season being only eleven chapters each certain episodes and events will be missed as things are covered in a broader stroke as seen with the last two chapters.**

 **Next Chapter-Captain Hook returns to town, after an accident Emma relies on Jack widening the gulf between her and her parents, Henry is horrified that his plan is failing in terms of a Happy Ending and Jack is utterly confused (and somewhat exasperated) as to why Emma seems so interested in a one handed pirate with a roving eye. Otherwise known as Jack meets Hook and Gold calls in a favour.**

 **And there you are, enjoy.**


	16. Once A Hero

**Hi, so here is another chapter. I can only apologise for the lateness. My dissertation has been killing me and so therefore updates might be a bit slower due to work.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine other than Jack.**

 **And yeah I have skipped a few episodes.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 16-Once A Hero

Captain Hook returns to town, after an accident Emma relies on Jack widening the gulf between her and her parents. Henry is annoyed that his plan is failing and Jack is confused (and somewhat exasperated) as to why Emma seems so interested in a one handed pirate with a roving eye. Snow White meanwhile comes to a very painful realisation. Otherwise known as Jack meets Hook and Gold calls in a favour. A sort of Part One to a two part arc.

* * *

It had been two weeks since she had spoken to Jack. Actually now she came to think about it, it was the longest time she had gone without speaking to him. Even with Neal they had kept up somewhat of a sporadic phone conversation because she knew that Jack had been worried nine times out of ten that she and Neal would get themselves killed in some stupid phase. He had been nearly right after all.

But she was used to him being there even if he disapproved of what she had been doing. Time alone had given her time to think. Whatever he was doing with Regina (and she didn't want to think about that) she knew deep down she couldn't chastise him on. Emma knew enough to know that her very appearance had cost Jack his marriage no matter how much he insisted that she was not responsible for that. She knew that her actions with Neal and her prison sentence had been an terrible strain on him never mind her pregnancy thrown into the mix and then there was the time they had spent in Storybrooke before the breaking of the curse where he had tried to warn her about rushing headfirst into things and she had done so anyway. Time alone had given her time to think and she had to conclude that while the thought of Regina with Jack turned her stomach she couldn't stop it.

Once she had reached that conclusion she found that she could breathe a little bit easier in the morning. The conclusion to the Archie story had been that Jack was right and it had been Cora who had kidnapped him and framed her own daughter. She had wanted to scream because her backing of her parents opinion that Regina had been evil had—at least in her mind cost her, her relationship with her other father and then there was Henry who was distraught that they weren't acting like some happy family.

Emma wanted to tell her son that she was doing this on her own terms but she had feeling he wouldn't listen either way. Henry had been acting odder as the days went by but Emma didn't know if that was the crashing down of his plan or if the simple reality was he was missing his mother. The other mother. Regina.

Or it was his teenage years kicking in prematurely. That was a distinct possibility. She remembered her own and had to resit the urge to throw something in frustration. Either way he was becoming difficult to predict and that was another block on the tower that was her life that was dangerously close to toppling over.

And now there was the icing on the cake that was Gold and Belle and Hook and the three of them locked in some sort of war that Emma half understood and at the same time really didn't. Also she didn't want to know at the same time because she knew that knowing what had happened between the pirate and Gold's wife would be somehow more mentally scarring than it sounded.

But there was now an outsider to consider. Someone that could have seen the homicidal maniac that was Gold and his apprentice the one-handed lunatic going at it. Someone who could have seen magic and that right now was something that had ramifications so huge she couldn't begin to deal with them. Emma couldn't deal with them alone. It was time to bite the bullet and ask for Jack's help.

(Months later when she was in a different sort of crisis she would wonder why it had never occurred to her to ask her parents for help. But honestly there and then she didn't care. That she supposed might have always been her problem)

She ran a hand through her hair hanging up the phone and stepping out into the waiting room. It was just the way she left it. Whale and David were still arguing about the fact that it would be safer to let the outsider die something which David was vehemently apposed and Whale was enforcing. Emma made another mental note (her list was getting rather long at this point) to change doctors as soon as she could because Whale was also drunk off his ass and looking like he needed a hot bath, a shave and meal not to mention a detox before he operated.

She stood to the side and tried very hard not to think of Hook. The last romantic entanglement she had been in had resulted in a death and the one before that a pregnancy and a prison sentence and therefore she was unsure about starting another not that she was ever going to admit that she was regardless of how they had ended up here glad that the pirate had manged to get out of that ogre infested hell hole in one piece. And she had no business starting anything up even if the flirting was rather enjoyable (not that she was ever going to say that out loud).

"I called Jack" was what she said instead. Predictably both her biological parents looked hurt but Emma didn't care. She needed Jack's help on this because a part of her reviled at the thought of letting this man die and the other part of her knew that she wouldn't have to worry about him on top of everything else tonight if she did.

"Why?" Mary Margaret asked her. "He chose Regina over you Emma"

"No he didn't" Emma snapped. "He chose to give me some space. And all of that is crap now. I called him because I need my family. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go and see weather or not that damned pirate is going to survive the night and then I have to figure out how the hell to keep Gold away from him—for that you both know were going to need numbers either way, so let me know if anything changes."

And with that she stalked off feeling like all she wanted to do was put her head down on her pillow and never wake up.

* * *

Jack was not surprised however when he did arrive to the hospital to get the somewhat lukewarm welcome from Snow White and Prince Charming (and even in his head that sounded fucking ridiculous) and then he caught sight of his daughter. He had wanted to remain firm but the truth of the matter was that he had not seen her in two weeks and she looked just as frazzled as he felt.

It didn't matter that they had, had a fight and they hadn't been speaking to each other. They had, had fights before. As far as Jack was concerned that didn't change anything. Emma had been his daughter since that first afternoon when they had ate soup and no amount of rows about whoever it was that they were sleeping with was going to change that. And with that he smiled brightly at the Charming's and right in front of them pulled his daughter (who was also their daughter) into a hug.

He supposed it was petty—ok he knew it was petty but he didn't care. He and Regina were both two alike in this regard.

They were both adoptive parents fighting for their child.

Emma pulled Jack to the side.

"Dad" she said finally wondering what she was going to say after that blinding confrontation that they had, had only two weeks ago. Her Dad however shrugged.

"Kiddo" he said finally. "We've all done things we regret. You didn't regret Neal, I don't regret Regina and we will never speak about either one again. But trust me. I would never do anything that put you or the boy at risk"

Emma nodded. There was a pause and then the phone in her hand rang. It was the Star Wars theme which Jack knew for a fact wasn't the theme tune that Emma had on her phone. He raised an eyebrow. Emma rolled her eyes a smile gracing her face though it was a tad cynical at the look on his face and she felt the bubbling laughter that she knew was a tad hysterical.

"I think I need to tell you some things" was all she said.

* * *

"So let me get this straight" she overheard and Snow hadn't mean to overhear but she was dithering and the door was halfway open so she figured that some of it was fate and some of it was just luck.

"There is a Captain Hook? And he doesn't look like Robin Williams?"

Emma laughed and it was the kind of laugh that Snow had never heard before not even when she had been Mary Margaret. This was not the laugh of a woman that had grown up alone. This was the laugh of a woman who had, had a family and lived and loved and not just survived on the crumbs. This was her daughter and she had a family.

Snow knew she should be happy that Emma had grown up with someone who had cared about her. She should be happy that Emma had, had a childhood and a chance to be free and happy. She should be grateful to Jack for taking on her daughter who she knew deep down was probably not easy for him to raise. But at the same time she felt furious and sad. David was Emma's father. Because to justify that Jack was as well was to justify that Regina still had a spot in their lives as Henry's mother and Snow couldn't do that.

But she peered around the door to see the two of them laughing together like the row between them had never left. Jack was the one that Emma ran to when she was in a difficult situation and live or die it was his advice that was going to dictate what happened to that innocent stranger or weather or not Henry ever got to fully understand what happened between his mother and his father (whoever he was) and that just made her feel redundant. She was Emma's mother and she was just as ordinary as a woman on the street.

And she had thought that they were getting somewhere to boot. She had thought that during their time together in the Enchanted Forest they had been making progress. Emma had listened to the story that had seen her world upended and not blamed her for it after all. Snow had thought that there was progress made on other fronts as well and then the second her daughter had gotten back she had made it clear regardless of weather or not Regina was going to be in her life via her adoptive father if not her son—that Jack was always going to be first.

And there was nothing that Snow could do about it.

And gods above it hurt.

 _It hurt._

Gone were the daydreams she had been having about the four of them—her, her husband, her daughter and her grandson rebuilding the kingdom that had been stolen from her and prospering off the land like she had been brought up to love and respect. That was not going to happen if they did find the magic to do it. For once the main issue was not going to be Regina. It wasn't even Jack. It was the simple fact that her daughter did not see her as family.

And there was nothing that Snow White could do about that.

* * *

Emma hopped off the table looking slightly more reassured and Snow walked back to her husband thinking that she had seen more than she had ever wanted to and understood it as well. She listened to Emma's plan and tried to keep her face from showing that her heart was breaking everytime Emma would look at Jack and her face would light up a little bit more at his approval.

They were going to let the outsider live it seemed. A part of Jack considered the fact that, that was probably going to be a bad idea but he knew his kid was not a murderer. Even if he was. He was thinking about going home—there was something about Reggie that was bothering him. His old dog—his brothers dog was getting tired. Jack was also getting tired but Reggie had survived tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and had this was getting out of hand. He wanted to take him to the animal shelter but he couldn't because he didn't know who to trust in this damn place anymore and David had once worked there. He didn't want to end up the subject of gossip for another reason.

Somethings were just better left unspoken about.

And he had not spoken to Regina since she had decided she was going into hiding. Even though her name was clear Jack suspected a part of her wanted to lick her wounds and rebuild her revenge plan in private. Also the less he knew about that the better.

He looked up. Emma and her mother—or roommate whatever she was, were in some sort of disagreement and David was scowling down at his phone. Jack sighed. God he was getting too old for this.

"What the hell is this?" came a voice behind him. Jack turned at the same time Emma jumped off the wall that she was leaning on as if she had been burned. There was a pause where she stood there and then Jack could see what she was staring at. It was a man in a hospital gown with what looked like one hand missing. He was handsome in that rugged pirate look and then the second he thought about it he knew exactly who this was.

This was Captain Hook.

Well…Jack had to admit that in this Disney alternate dimension Hook had come off a lot better than his counterpart.

He grinned as the man continued talking. He couldn't help himself. Emma rolled her eyes but Jack knew that his daughter wasn't as annoyed as she pretended to be.

Another leather wearing charmer. That was just fantastic.

* * *

They came back quiet and silent to the apartment. David insisted on driving though why he was when he was clearly just as tired as the rest of them Emma couldn't understand. Either way she was tired and she hurt all over and she wanted to fall asleep again.

"Hook seemed interesting" Jack ventured finally. He had made coffee and Emma was surprised and rather pleased to see her mot—her roommate smile at him. Perhaps the ice between them all was thawing finally.

"Oh he's that alright" she said finally refusing to look him in the face because she knew what he was doing. And for once she was not going to rise to it. There was nothing between her and Hook. Nothing now and nothing that would develop. She had done the hopeless romantic leather clad flirt before—too many times actually. She was not going to do it again.

Henry came down the stairs then in his pyjama's. there was something in his expression when he saw them together Jack as well that Emma didn't like. He didn't seem as happy as he was when it was her and her biological parents together and it sent a wave of irritation and fury through her that she immediately felt guilty for.

But she had no idea what she was doing here. Even with Jack she had no idea how to be a mother. She'd had a father. She'd had a dad. She had never had a mother or a mom before.

The door knocked and Emma stood up. It was Gold and she paused taking him in. She could see out of the corner of her eye the look on Jack's face mirrored in David and she felt a flare of pleasure in her stomach that came with knowing that she was cared about. It was both an old and a new feeling all at once.

But that feeling changed as Gold explained what he wanted and Emma felt her heart sink. New York with Gold.

Something told her she was really going to regret this.

(Emma had no idea how much she was going to regret.)

* * *

 **There you are. I hope you enjoyed this and I will update as soon as a humanly can.**

 **Next Chapter-Emma goes to New York and confronts her past. Regina meets her mother against her better judgement, Snow comes to a realisation and Jack finds out something that makes him hit the roof. **


	17. Defensive Action

**Hi, so here is another chapter. I hope this makes up for the lack of updates over January. As always however my uni work comes first so please don't be annoyed if updates are a bit slower than usual.**

 **Please Read and Review**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **And I can confirm that there are only five more chapters left of the Season 2 arc.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 17-Defensive Action

Emma goes to New York and while there is forced to confront her past. Regina against her better judgement meets and enters into an alliance with her mother. Snow comes to a realisation and Jack finds out something that makes him hit the roof.

* * *

Emma went to New York kicking and screaming even if it was silently and she also took Henry with her. Conveniently she ignored the fact that Regina might want to know what the hell she was doing with her kid when Jack pointed it out to her. It wasn't he told her that morning, like he had her number. But his daughter had ignored him and Jack was now too busy focusing on what was wrong with his brother's dog to worry about it. Losing Reggie was like reliving his bad days and he was putting off going to the animal clinic because he knew that he was not going to like what they told him.

He left the house after she did. David had tried to threaten Gold with the whole devastated thing but Jack had pointed out that his memories didn't disappear once he went over the town line and he had training Gold had never seen before which he suspected had rather ruined David's moment (not that he had felt sorry for that—the man was half his age for the love of…) anyway the old man had given him a somewhat appraising look and then had turned on his heel. Jack took that to mean he took him as more of a threat than David and he was rather pleased with that outcome.

He had finished his coffee and bowed out. He and Emma did not need to say goodbye. He knew his daughter well enough to know that come hell or high water she would be coming back with her son and with Gold's son—whoever he was. The problem was not if it was when. Besides he and Emma had never needed emotionally displays of affection to tell the other how they felt about whatever was going on. They were too much alike for things like that. Emotion or emotional displays were not something they indulged in even when they both wanted to do nothing but hug the other and never let go.

He got the impression that Snow White might want to talk but Jack had no plans to sit down and have a conversation with what he had been told were his daughter's biological parents about what was going to happen next. He supposed they had a plan for a family that did not include either Regina nor him and he hadn't the time, the patience or the temper to sit through that conversation. Not today. Actually not ever.

So he went back home and waited for his daughter to call him. And when she did…oh when she did, he would feel a fury run through him that he had only felt once before. That only one person could inspire in him.

* * *

Neal Cassidy was back.

Emma could only shoot him looks out of the corner of her eye. She was furious and for some reason she didn't want to think about rather hurt. And for once it had nothing to do with Henry. She knew her son was mad at her but she didn't care as much as she should right now. Right now all she wanted to do was smack Neal hard across the face. And then track down August Booth and give him a good kick in between his wooden legs.

Neal had taken to leaning against the wall. Henry was still outside on the fire escape. They had talked, father and son for a little while. Gold had retreated to the bedroom and that left the two of them in the room. Emma felt the strongest urge to cry for some unknown reason she didn't want to acknowledge.

"So" was all Neal said. "You really were gonna keep me in the dark about Henry. You had him adopted away." He tilted his head to the side and Emma felt her hurt ebb until it was nothing but pure anger and more than a little bit of hate at the man who had broken her and yet given her, her son all at the same time.

"Damn right I wasn't going to tell you about him." She growled. "Not that I could because you didn't exactly leave me a note. Just a damn set of car keys. Thanks for that by the way, wasn't at all like rubbing salt on the open cut"

Neal nodded taking the insults.

"Well" he said conversationally. "You don't get to make all the choices for him now"

"No" Emma said coldly. For the first time she appreciated Regina's position in her son's life. Because Regina would have no time for this shit Neal was spouting like a broken teapot.

"His other mother might have a bit of a say. As I have been continuously reminded she still has legal custody. And she'll hate the idea of you"

Neal nodded but Emma knew—because she knew—that he wasn't listening to her.

"Your not coming back to Storybrooke" was all she said fighting the urge to snarl and spit her way out of the corner she was forced into.

"Back with him?" Neal jerked his head to where Gold was. "Not a chance in hell but we do need to work out some sort of arrangement. Regina included if that's what you wish"

Damn him for being so accommodating. She felt like hissing and cursing in a very teenage way. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and then opened them again when she had her temper under control. Right now she would rather take Hook's flirting rather than this. Neal was too much of a clusterfuck both physically and emotionally for her to deal with.

She wanted…she wanted Jack.

And then suddenly she saw her way out of this haunting dilemma.

"I know your not coming to Storybrooke. And I doubt I have to give you anything." She took another step closer so that they were in range of each other for the first time. "Because Jack's in Storybrooke"

Neal took a step back and Emma took a great amount of pleasure in the way he shot a nervous look around the room as if Jack was about to descend from the ceiling like some bizarre angry dragon. Actually she took a great amount of comfort in it.

"He's…err…I guess he's not best pleased with how things turned out is he?" Neal said his voice up a full octave. Emma privately did a little jig in her head.

"Pleased?" she said incredulously. "He wants you dead. And when I mean dead I mean your head and balls on a silver platter. You left me in a prison cell pregnant Neal, did you really think my Marine father was going to let you get away with that?"

Oh she relished the look on his face when he said that. She bit her bottom lip to keep the glee out of her face but she felt positively gleeful. Oh it would be worth bringing Neal back to Storybrooke just to see the terror on his face when he ran into Jack.

"Well" Neal said but they were interrupted by Henry. He was furious at her and Emma couldn't blame him. But she at last had a way out of this situation and it was staring her in the face.

But first she had to have that unpleasant conversation with her father first and she knew that there was no way under the sun that it was going to end well.

Perhaps it was best to call someone else first.

* * *

Regina had been sat in her underground vault when the door opened and she heard the high heeled boot come down the stairs. She wasn't surprised. She had sealed the dratted thing with blood magic after all. She was not at all surprised that it had ended like this. Her mother after all was a woman who had taught her things that she had known Regina would keep implementing long after she was gone. More to the point Regina could never intentionally keep her mother away. There was probably a reason why she had always blamed Snow for Daniel and never Cora but she was too tired and too drunk to care about that.

Already she was thinking about what would happen between the two of them if she opened her third bottle of wine.

"Took you long enough" she said without turning round. Her mother had that silent effect that she had learned from Gold of being silent when she needed to be. Silence she used like a weapon to emphasise her presence. God there were times Regina loathed her mother.

"So" she said finally. "What do you want?" she phrased it like a question but the truth of the matter was that she suspected already what her mother was here to do. The question was weather or not she could go through with helping her—or weather it even mattered in the long run.

Cora took a seat next to her and held out her hand. Regina passed her both a glass and the wine bottle in quick succession. Regina rolled her eyes again. Somethings about her mother never changed.

"The same thing you want dear" her mother said her voice as soft and smooth as warm treacle.

"To see the end of that dratted Snow White"

Regina laughed. "Really?" she asked though again it was not a question and her laugh had no humour whatsoever in it. She knew exactly what her mother wanted and it was not to end the little girl who had so carefully given Cora all she needed to know.

"Listening to Snow lost me you" her mother said finally. "And I know that it something that you will never forgive me for."

Regina snorted. That was the truth, she couldn't deny it. She was never going to forgive her mother for Daniel. There her happy ending had been right in front of her and that stupid girl and her heartless mother had taken it from her and trapped her into marriage with an old man who had never gotten over his cow of a first wife.

"Agreed" she said waspishly.

"So" her mother said firmly. "I am going to get rid of that problem for you"

Regina wanted to point out that a curse hadn't gotten rid of the insipid woman but she was too tired to care. She refused point blank to think of Jack as she poured herself another glass of wine.

"Whatever you say mother"

* * *

Snow caught Jack as he was in Granny's.

"I spoke to Emma" she said finally as way of a greeting. She supposed it gained some attention. After all he did put down his paper to stare at her with those eyes that looked like they had seen more than she had—and she had seen quite a bit as well. She sat down at the booth feeling nervous but she reminded herself, she knew she had to do this. This was for her daughter.

"And?" Jack asked carefully. Snow took his tone to mean that she could relax a bit and she tapped her nails on the table.

"They found Gold's son" she said finally. "And I wanted to talk to you. I know there have been some issues between you, my husband and myself"

"That's a diplomatic way of putting it"

"Look—I don't want them to last. Emma is what's important, to all three of us and us arguing doesn't help matters. She loves you and I have come to the realisation that no matter how much I want it too you are not going anywhere. Therefore I am offering peace"

"Peace" Jack scoffed. "Your husband know how noble your being?"

"No" Snow said with what she hoped was dignity. "But he does know about Daniel. And we both know Regina told you that story"

"I do" Jack said finally.

There was a pause as they took each other in.

"Truce" Jack said finally. "I'll withhold judgement on peace for the time being"

Snow nodded.

"So" Jack said with an effort she felt as well. "They found Gold's son?"

"Oh yes, Gold got hurt so there coming home with him—Emma said something about Hook but it will be a couple of days from now apparently." Snow said not dwelling on the fact that they would probably be coming home around her birthday, but then she realised that Jack had probably met him without really meeting him.

"Turns out you know him"

Jack's eyebrows rose to the top of his head. He looked floored and she knew it was genuine.

"I do?"

"Yes. According to Emma he's Henry's father"

There was a very pregnant pause. Jack's expression went in several heartbeats from surprised, to shocked, to a deep seated fury that she didn't understand.

"Neal?" he asked finally.

Snow nodded.

Jack gave a low smile that was filled with a sort of rage Snow didn't understand.

"Wonderful" he said and then he picked up his coffee mug and threw it across the room. Snow flinched. Jack stood up, he was still smiling.

"If you'll excuse me Snow" Snow took a moment to appreciate him using her first given name even if his expression was frightening.

"I have to go and clean out my gun"

* * *

 **And there you are. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will endeavour to update sooner rather than later.**

 **Next Chapter-Neal Cassidy returns to Storybrooke to be meet by one pissed of Marine and his gun. Regina and Cora make a move. Regina and Snow battle it out with a price to be paid and Jack learns some devastating news.**

 **Enjoy.**


	18. The Moment Of Truth

**Hi, so here is another chapter. There are only four more and then we are done with Season 2 so please be aware that some episodes will be ignored or events glossed over.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **I am aware that some parts of episodes have been changed that is so it can fit into the chapters.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 18-The Moment Of Truth

Neal Cassidy returns to Storybrooke to be met by one pissed off Marine and his gun. Regina and Cora make their move. Regina and Snow battle it out with a price to be paid and Jack learns some devastating news.

* * *

Neal stepped of the boat his bleeding father in his arms and gulped.

Oh shit.

Jack Reynolds was stood on the dock gun in hand.

And while that might sound like every cliché in the book this time it wasn't. Jack fucking Reynolds was stood on the dock with his gun in his hand and an expression of glee that made Neal wish he had stayed in New York even if it did disappoint his son. He was pretty sure Henry would want him alive and Neal knew that watching someone you cared about murder someone else you cared about could leave scars on a young developing mind.

Emma stepped off the boat and shot Neal a look of pure triumph that was masked into an expression of guilt when she saw Henry looking.

"Hello Emma" Jack said in a terrible voice that made the hairs on the back of Neal's head stand up. It didn't help that Jack didn't spare his daughter one glance and was instead keeping his eyes clasped on Neal in a highly disconcerting way.

"Oh he really doesn't like you" his Papa muttered and Neal scoffed refusing to admit that perhaps his father might have a point.

"Hello Henry" Jack said not looking at his son as someone who Neal assumed was Emma's biological father helped him with his own. There was a pause where he stood there. Jack took a step forwards. "When the world is not ending" he said in a tone of voice that would have made his father proud. "You and I are going to have a talk boy"

And with that he turned on his heel and walked off after his daughter and grandson leaving Neal on the dock feeling like he was a child in the Enchanted Forest all over again watching his father get that look on his face that always preluded a murder.

He had to give Jack that much—he had retained the quality that had stunned Neal into a terrified silence.

* * *

If Neal was under the strain of seeing her father again Emma had to admit that he was doing a rather admirable job of not showing it. Jack was still in Gold's shop sat at the counter with his gun on the desk and his eyes on Neal. Twice he had opened his mouth to speak caught Jack's eye and thought better of it of which Emma was unspeakably grateful. She was pretty sure that if she played her cards right as well as the relationship between Gold and Neal she might be able to get Neal to go and check on Ruby (who had Henry) and therefore she might get chance to breathe without feeling like something was crawling on her skin whenever he looked at her.

God his eyes had still not lost that smouldering quality. Damn him.

Instead she tried to focus on drawing a line with the invisible chalk and trying to pretend that she didn't feel ridiculous. There was a pause where she stood there, Jack was still sat with one hand on the trigger though his eyes seemed to be always on Neal—Emma hoped deep down it was really scaring the shit out of him—and even David (once he had understood the story) kept popping in and out of the room to glare at Neal like an excited mole coming up for air. It was rather touching really—Emma wasn't used to so many people caring about her.

"Look" Neal said finally deciding to bite the bullet. "I already said to Emma but I'll say it to you Jack—I'm sorry. I had no idea Henry existed and if it wasn't for Pinocchio I wouldn't have let Emma take the wrap but he said I would be interfering with her destiny and then he knew who I was and…well you know my father…you know that I couldn't have him know where I was" his words tipped off as he ran out of things to say and Emma turned trying to gage Jack's reaction.

There was a very pregnant pause.

"I don't care" was all Jack said finally. "When the danger is passed and if you intend to stay…" the slight curl of his lip told Emma that he highly doubted Neal's devotion. "We will talk. Either way your father doesn't scare me. And Good Lord Neal…Pinocchio? Is that supposed to make me less mad? That a wooden boy stopped you from taking some responsibility for the first time in your sorry life?!"

And now Jack was yelling.

Emma sighed. While the sight of Neal trembling in terror was something that she did want to see (and she would admit the fact that Jack still had her back after all of the disagreements meant more than she could say right now) but she would rather have a good strong fighter at her side when Regina came crashing through the door and Neal dead by her father's hand was not something she wanted—well not really.

"Dad" she said softly and Jack turned his expression to Emma's his face tilted to the side as he took her in.

"Where do you want me Em?"

Emma was glad that he knew how she worked. Jack had always known how she worked. It had been like that when she had come home after giving Henry away. Jack had simply asked her where she had wanted him and she had given him an answer and he had moved to accommodate her. There was a pause where she sat there taking it in and then she thought about it.

"With Henry" she said finally. "Ruby's good but she's not that good and while I trust Granny I need someone there watching my son. I'm fine" she added a little firmly. It was half a need to make sure that Henry was safe and another factor which was that as much as Emma hated Regina she didn't want Jack to be the one who killed her. She knew her father well enough to know that, that would be the one thing that he would not forgive either himself or her for.

Jack's smile—his impossibly sad smile told her that he had understood that and more—that she wanted a moment to be alone with the first man that she had ever loved and the father of her child. There was a pause where they stood there and acknowledged that and then Jack crossed the room and dropped a kiss onto the top of her head. Emma leaned back a little regardless of the ache in the back of her legs so that she could lean into the fatherly touch and then Jack was back out the back door but not before shooting another furious look in Neal's direction.

"Pinocchio, I ask you" he scoffed and then he was gone.

"God" Neal said finally his whole body relaxing as soon as he heard the door shut. "He's not changed at all." He shot a look at Emma. "He's really gonna kill me isn't he?"

Emma grinned at him.

* * *

She whirled around as soon as Regina came crashing through the door. The woman's eyes were strangely unfocused and Emma knew instinctually that she was struggling with the thought that Jack was here. She decided not to think about that. She was not going to doubt Jack's loyalty, not now. She was not going to have that question answered. She trusted Jack. She trusted him. She trusted David too but that was where it ended with her. She did not trust Neal, she did not trust Gold and she most certainly did not want to think of Hook still in New York. That was where the trust was with the men in her family. She trusted both of her fathers and her mother. That was it.

David thrust his arm out and she paused falling backwards. Her biological father was watching the two women with narrowed eyes. There was Regina who was looking like she didn't really want to be here which was something that Emma didn't want to think about—at least not with the rage flowing through her veins and Cora who was tall with (Emma would admit) legs to die for and a pantsuit that was painstakingly tailored. There was a connection between the two women Emma could tell looking at them. They had the same stance and the same regal way of holding their head held high not to mention it looked like Cora Mills had borrowed her daughter's lipstick. They looked…powerful…

Emma could see why Gold liked this woman.

But at that moment the said woman waved her hands and Emma was aware of falling backwards as she turned blinking between the blue smoke to see the outside of the Storybrooke forest staring at her.

"Oh for fucks sake" she shouted. David looked like he wanted to admonish her but took one look at her face and decided to try something else.

"Come on" he said finally. "We need to get back to Storybrooke. Gold dying aside I don't like the idea of your mother and Regina being in the same room for too long. Especially not with that woman"

"You don't like Cora?"

Emma could understand what he was thinking, she didn't like Cora. She could understand why the woman had made the Evil Queen. But David didn't comment on that however, instead he turned to her and she saw that he looked as serious as she had seen him.

"Regina…you know about Daniel Emma?" he asked finally. "Regina's love. The one that your mother accidentally got killed—and that she regrets…deeply" he added at a rush. Emma nodded.

"Snow told Cora about Daniel. Cora killed Daniel. Regina was there she watched the whole thing"

Emma paused. She never wanted to admit that she felt sorry for Regina but she had done when she had heard that story.

"Ok" she said simply not wanting to admit that. "Let's go and stop Cora"

And with that she took off at a run privately thankful that she had not left Jack alone with the woman that had already killed a man that Regina had loved and wouldn't have a problem doing it again.

* * *

Regina stared at the Snow White for a long heartbeat. The woman had the gall to look horrified. She had the actual balls to look Regina in the eye with her wobbly chin and her big eyes filling with tears. Oh Regina should have gouged them out with her own arrows years ago. She turned on a half twist to see the mingled relief and sadness mixed in her mentor's face. Of course.

Cora's death would mean he got to live. He would mourn the woman that once upon a time he had loved and would instead turn his attention onto fixing the problem that was that insipid librarian and his son. She turned back to her mother. She wanted blood.

She wanted one person's blood.

She wanted the blood of the one person she should have killed a long time ago.

Snow fucking White.

She could feel rather than see the small shake of the head that Gold gave. It was so small she imagined the sobbing bitch and her weakling of a husband didn't see it but she could. Gold was telling her not to fight. That his son and Emma would be back soon. That Jack would be back soon.

Regina understood even though all of her instincts wanted to kill.

She had been tricked into…

It didn't even bare contemplating.

Instead she evaporated into smoke before she could say anything or do anything.

Oh she would get her revenge for this somehow.

* * *

Jack looked up from where he was sitting when Emma came in. She looked exhausted and he was more than a little disgruntled when he saw that Neal was still with her. She sat down at the table looking older than she had done in a long time.

"Something's happened" was all she said.

It was all she needed to say.

He hadn't wanted to do it. Jack had not wanted to take Reggie to the vet but he needed conformation about the one thing that he knew was coming despite all of the reasons not too. He knew this was coming. Had known it for a while and he didn't need to read the look on the kid's face as he told him his dog—his brother's dog, was dying.

Reggie had been a Marine dog. He had been through hell and back and now his journey was over. Jack didn't need telling that he had, had the sick feeling in his stomach for a while that this was coming. He didn't want to tell Emma either—she was going to busy for the foreseeable future cleaning up a Charming mistake of which Jack thought had reached biblical proportions. There was a long pause where he stood there as Reggie went, padding silently up the stairs to the bed.

There was too much history between him and his dog. Between his dog and his brother and the smoke and the dust and the heat that was over there. Where everything for him had ended and everything had began.

There was nobody who would understand that.

He wiped his face on his sleeve refusing to admit that there was anything wrong with the tears that were slowly making there way down his face and he admitted to himself that he missed his brother.

He missed his brother.

He missed his ex-wife.

He missed the days where it was just him and his daughter.

He missed Regina.

He missed what he had not lost but knew he would.

And with that he sat on the couch for a long time pretending he was unaffected.

* * *

 **And there you are. I hope you all enjoyed. Update to come soon.**

 **Next Chapter-Emma get's closer to Neal as Tamara returns. Regina makes a stance and then gives up, The Charming's come up with a plan that sees Regina and Jack in an alliance but first there is a tragic moment and a flashback to the real reason Jack Reynolds decided he wanted to adopt a foster child.**


	19. Snakes In The Garden

**Hi, so here is another chapter. I do hope you enjoy this one and I think there is only three more chapters left of Season 2! I apologise for the delay in this update but I have been swamped with uni and there is still so much to do so there might be a bit of a delay in between this and the next update as well.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

 **And I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 19-Snakes In The Garden

Emma gets closer to Neal as Tamara returns. Regina makes a stance and then gives up. The Charming's come up with a plan that sees the Regina and Jack in an alliance to protect their children against a perceived threat, but first there is a tragic moment and a flashback to the real reason Jack Reynolds decided he wanted to seek out a foster child.

* * *

Now

Emma was decidedly not trying to worry. Henry still hated her. Her mother was still curled up in bed a wreak because Cora Mills had been killed because of her and Regina had been used as the pawn. Her father was content to let all of this continue as if nothing had happened, Neal was still loose in Storybrooke. Hook had escaped. The outsider was still here and to cap of a brilliant week all round her other father and Regina had not been heard off since then.

Jack had not been seen since he had gone to the vet's with Reggie the week before. Emma had no idea what was going on but she knew this was not the first time that something like this had happened. When she had turned seven something had come on the TV about some soldier who was being honoured and Jack had simply shut down and wouldn't come out of his room for two days. Emma had been used to crazy behaviour by foster families by then and therefore had not let it bother her. She knew how to cook for herself and clean up after herself after all. But this time there was something different to it and Emma didn't think it was about Neal or anything else and that included Regina.

But the problem—well one of her many problems—was that the seconds he was out of contact with her at the time that she needed him because if there was one person who what it was to knowingly take the life of another it was Jack—and unlike David he would have no issue with telling Mary Margaret to get her ass out of bed and get her mind back on the issues that they were faced with.

And she needed that because she was trying to be sympathetic with her mother—she was. But all she could see was that the woman had gone back on everything she had ever said to Emma and put revenge above her own family and now the fragile peace and understanding that Emma (and to some extent Regina—if not via Jack's help) was now moot and void and Emma did not have the time nor the allies to fight a war on two fronts—not when she could hardly trust either one of her allies.

And then Neal dropped the bomb on her one morning when she had arrived to take a still smarting Henry to see him.

"I'm engaged"

Well wasn't that like a punch to the gut. Emma might want to hit Neal (and she did…oh did she want to hit him…) but she also had to acknowledge that there was a part of her—the teenage part that had loved and lost and learnt so much and yet so little with Neal at her side that still wanted him regardless of all of the hurt that she it had cost. She bit her bottom lip again and took in the knowledge refusing to admit to herself even mentally that he had moved on from her and how much it hurt. She was not going to let Neal get to her like that ever again.

And if he wanted to bring that woman here. Well…that was also not her problem. That was her parents problem. Emma had no issue with that woman as long as she didn't have to see her.

And yes. That was what she was firmly telling herself.

But she wanted Jack. She wanted the comfort that her father gave her and she was still feeling like she was on ice when it came to David. There was a long pause where she sat over her coffee watching it get cold before she forced herself to take a gulp and then go about her work as if there wasn't anything wrong.

* * *

What exactly happened between Regina, Henry and Emma (he didn't count David and he most certainly did not count…Neal…) Jack didn't know but he did know that something was wrong when he dragged himself out of bed to see Regina standing their in his living room looking like someone had died.

He knew about her mother of course he had been listening to the voicemails Emma was leaving him at least three times a day.

He also knew about Emma's mother. He didn't comment even to himself what it was that Snow White was now a murderer. He would have to book himself straight into the asylum and never come out. He did however acknowledge that Mary Margaret Blanchard willingly committing murder was something so laughable had he not been trapped in a fog of memories he would have laughed until his sides ached to imagine it.

Of course he was unsurprised that she had taken to her bed. Killing was not nearly as easy as Snow White would have believed. It was dark and dangerous and it took something out of you even when you knew it was your only option. What had happened with Regina's mother was cold hearted calculation and revenge. If she had not taken to her bed Jack would have almost respected his daughter's mother. As it was he chalked this down to hypocrisy and pain and another issue that he had to deal with and he didn't want to. Not right now.

Not when everything was already going tits up with his life.

So when he came down the stairs to see Regina sat on his couch a look on her face that told him she was inches away from falling apart he knew what had happened even without knowing the whole story.

It involved Henry (because it always did).

It would involve Emma (because where Henry was involved it meant that Emma was involved as well)

It would probably involve the Charming's (because it always did)

And he knew that somehow it would involve Neal as well, (because that bastard was always going to be involved from now on as well—another cross Jack considered—for him to carry)

He didn't want to ask what had happened, but he needed the distraction if he was being honest with himself and he needed the option of hating someone more than he hated himself and if that was that dratted woman and her husband who had turned his life upside down then that was good enough for him.

There was a long pause where they stood there and he broke it by moving towards his drinks cabinet. There were a few bottles there but the oldest, the strongest and the dustiest was an old bottle of Johnny Walker that he only ever touched when he was absolutely desperate to get himself hammered in a way that would have rivalled his teenage years.

Wordlessly he passed her the bottle and a glass and Regina poured herself two fingers and then downed them both in quick succession.

"I tried to do something very stupid" she confessed finally. "The arrival of Neal Cassidy has gone and lost me my only ally and after more decades than I care to count my mother tells me that she really did love me only to die because that stupid…bitch…wanted revenge. All the time it's her. You don't know how much pain she has caused me and yet…and yet she always get's the better of me. I don't know what to do anymore, what to fight for, if there's a point in fighting anymore. They're going to take Henry and Emma away from both of us"

That resonated with Jack bringing him back to earth and away from the stench of smoke and the feel of sand over every inch of his body. He paused taking in what she was trying to say to him and acknowledging that it was the worse kind of thing that she had ever said. And Regina had said many a bad thing.

 _"_ _What"_ He said finally. It wasn't even a question, he didn't even raise his voice but the tone of it was something that even she could pick up on. Jack didn't so much as take a beat and she gazed at him for a second and when she spoke the words came out in a rush as if she had wanted to say this for days.

"I overheard them at the docks. They were talking about taking some Enchanted Beans that there growing and going back to the Enchanted Forest. They want to take Emma and Henry with them and Neal Cassidy because it ties together for them. Emma, Henry, Neal, them…all one big happy family. I have a choice of course prison and then a probable death in the dark or being left behind. You weren't even mentioned"

She shot him another look trying to gage his reaction. There must have been something on his face because she paused watching for a brief second chewing her bottom lip. Jack didn't know what she was staring at or what she was saying more than that because at that moment he found that his ears were filled with white noise. There was a pause where he stood there and then he reached for the first thing he could find (which happened to be a vase that he was pretty sure had once belonged to his ex mother in law) and lobbed it across the room—opposite Regina—so that it shattered against his sink.

Regina stood up. She was nowhere near the glass but Jack supposed dimly self preservation forced her to her feet. He reached for something else but it promptly vanished from his hand.

Magic.

Oh he was beginning to hate that word and the ramifications that always came with it.

"Let go of me" he said finally and there was something in his voice that he knew made Regina drop her magic.

He sat down next to her the fight out of him. He was losing…everything.

His daughter.

His dog.

"What?" Regina asked and he realised then that he had said that out loud. He turned to look at her and then seeing as he knew Regina (or enough of her either way) to know that she was not going to stop asking the questions.

"I had a brother" he said finally. "Reggie's his dog. His dog from the war, I took the dog in when he was decommissioned by the Marine's…now he's dying. They want me to put him down"

Simply from nothing else to do he took a gulp of the bourbon.

"Doesn't your brother mind?" Regina asked.

Jack stared at his glass for a long second.

"My brother never made it out of Iraq" he said finally.

And then just like that he was back there again.

* * *

Then

He was young enough to leap from the back of the car he was trying to fix back up. Of course trying to rework cars that had been blown to bits was a bit beyond Jack's skill set but orders were orders and he would do them.

One of the men that had gone out with his brother, a younger private who had been the same age probably as Jack when he had enlisted—all those seven years ago came over to him. It took Jack a second to realise that he had Reggie by the lead and there was something about his brother's old dependable service dog that should have been warning enough.

"Corporal Reynold's sir?"

"Where's the other Corporal Reynold's?" he had asked not looking up.

"Sir…"

He delayed it until the last possible second before he looked up.

"Where is Henry?" he asked finally. He asked for his brother and he knew what the answer was going to be even without his CO standing suddenly beside him like he had been materialised out of thin fucking air.

Reggie sat down on the sand his paws in front of him.

Jack knew then.

* * *

Now. Again

Regina watched him with what she knew was tears in her eyes. Jack carried on speaking methodically about the whole thing but she couldn't think of a single damn thing to say. The whole thing made her think of her mother and Daniel and her father and…the whole thing she decided was just incredibly raw.

"I'm sorry" she said finally.

Jack shrugged not looking up from his glass his eyes unfocused and Regina knew he was thinking about a place that she would never see and a tragedy that neither she nor Miss Swan would ever understand.

"Can you put him down?" Jack asked finally.

Regina blinked…she had not been expecting that.

"Can I put your dog down?"

"Yes…I'll tell Emma in the morning in case…well…but then can you do it? Peacefully with magic? So he doesn't feel a thing. So he can die with me there in this house?"

Regina swallowed sharply.

"Yes" she said finally—once she was sure she had gotten herself under control. "I can do that for you"

"Good" Jack said in that same calm methodical voice that told her his head was still not out of the desert.

"I have lost" he carried on when she showed that she was going to speak.

"Too much…I have lost too much. My brother…my dog…countless friends and brothers along the way…I don't intend to lose Emma. Not to two people half my age who think genetics make the difference. They don't. I got her up for school in the morning, I held her hand when she went into labour and when she came out of prison, I braided her hair and frightened her prom date and tried to teach her not to mix drinks. I was the one who bought her tampons and told her it was ok to ask me about birth control when I could see she was scared. I was the one who wanted her that day on the porch when I was given the choice. Not them…they chose to give her up for a pipe dream they didn't even come true and if it wasn't for Henry…" he pulled a face but didn't elaborate.

"I am Emma's parent. I am Emma's family. So your going to help me Regina and I am going to help you. I'll get our children back even if I have to kill the Charming's with my bare hands to do it" He slammed the glass back onto the table and Regina felt some long lost emotion dust itself down inside of her because for the first time she knew that someone _understood._

And she found that she could breathe again.

The rest she could worry about later.

* * *

 **And there you go. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I hope that I will be able to update sooner rather than later.**

 **Next Chapter-Jack and Regina present a united front, The Outsider makes a move. Hook makes a decision and Emma is floored again...by more duplicity.**


	20. Wouldn't It Be Nice?

**Hi, so here is another chapter. I hope you enjoy this one as there are only two more chapters left of the Season 2 arc. Season 2 in my opinion was more about the divides between the Charming's and Regina and Season 3 was about them coming together to fight a common enemy on both arcs so that is the model I am applying to these chapters.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

 **Due to exams there might be a delay in chapters but i will endeavour to keep at it.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 20-Wouldn't It Be Nice?

Jack and Regina present a united front. The Outsider makes his move. Hook reaches a crossroads (so to speak) and Emma faces an emotional setback again…by more duplicity.

* * *

In the end Regina did it very gently. She waved her hand and Reggie's eyes closed as if he was going to sleep and then she left leaving Jack with the dog that had saved his life on more than one occasion, certainly his sanity and had been the dearest companion to his brother that Jack had ever known a dog to be.

It was in a way like losing Henry all over again. Jack's mother had died early, his father had not been the best of parents and his marriage had been a mistake from start to finish, but Henry and he had always been there, always having each other's back, finishing each other's words. They had enlisted together, teased each other together, fought side by side together. Losing Henry had cost him his marriage but had brought him Emma. It was a deal that he would make over and over again if he had too. Losing Reggie however was like losing his brother all over again and he found that he had to feel it all over again.

"You did good" he said to the dog whose head was in his lap and whose breathing was getting slower and slower.

"You did so good for me, for Henry, you did good. You can go now. I'll be alright"

Reggie's chest rose and fell again and this time Jack knew that the end was coming.

"You say hi to him for me wont you?"

Another breath and another second.

"Goodbye Reg"

And then nothing.

And that was where Regina found him an hour later, his hand still in the fur of his dead dog, his face wet with something he didn't want to identify and his mind on another dark haired man who had grinned like he could take on the world being united somewhere far away where bombs and sand and men dying and crying and pretending that everything was ok didn't exist and there was nothing but peace.

* * *

He didn't show it the week after. He didn't show emotion. Jack had never been a sentimental man. Emma only knew that Reggie had been a friends dog she had never known about Henry because Jack had never wanted to bring it up in front of her. Emma had been the thing that had made it easier to breathe he was not going to bring himself to explain to her what it had been like losing and breaking apart like that. Not when he wasn't sure anymore than nothing he said was going to be reported back to the Charming's who he was pretty sure were now going to be his worst enemy. Not when he was sure that Henry the boy (who was too different from Henry the man) was going to find out about it. Here was a child and yet Jack couldn't look at him without seeing the boy who had rocketed up and ruined his life and the fragile peace of which he had been living.

Well one thing was for sure. He was not losing Emma. Through that one weak of darkness he acknowledged what he was willing to do for her. For the one bit of goodness in his life and he put together in his mind several steps like he had to when he was planning out the route he had to take in the middle of the desert, he found that was comforting, and comforting was easy at this point.

Firstly he knew that he would have to find some way of getting his daughter away from the Charming's. Their hatred for Regina he could understand as well as appreciate her hatred from them. Both sides of that argument were understandable but that feud could wait. He turned off his phone and locked his door and drank more than he should and paced his whole house as he thought about what to do next. What to do about the Charming's.

He could tell Emma their plan. He thought that his daughter had enough love in for him to not leave without telling him but then he had to concede the point that she had done it once before. If he told Emma the plan her biological parents had then he could force the conversation and then perhaps have some say in the outcome. Certainly for Emma and if he could swing it for Henry as well. If she ran via this world or her own it was still kidnapping and he acknowledged that the Charming's would not want Gold there either which might give both he and Regina a powerful ally.

The second thing he would have to do was do something about Neal Cassidy. Neal Cassidy.

Now Jack knew what he would like to do to Neal Cassidy. Problem was it was illegal.

But he had to get rid of that man if his life depended on it. Hate was too strong a word for what Neal Cassidy had put him through. Hate was too strong a word for what he felt towards the man. He had been happy (or as happy as he could be) he had finally managed to get a breather in his life and then Neal had come in and ruined it and he had woken up one morning to find his daughter gone. A year later she had called him from jail, scared and alone and then two months later she was pregnant and he had gone into a room at the hospital infirmary to find his daughter handcuffed both hands and feet to a bed and forcing herself to give up her son.

No. That was something that he was not going to forgive even if it did play into Henry and Snow White and Prince Charming's hope for a happy future. He was not going to forgive Neal Cassidy that and he was certainly not going to sit around and watch the man build Emma's hopes up again only to eventually have them come crashing down when his fiancé moved into town and he got married and began a new life and a new family while his girl had to watch.

Jack however could not deny that both Emma and Henry could not trust Regina. Had Jack not understood what it was like to be in her situation he would find it hard to be loyal to her and want to help her. She had gone about it in all the wrong way and even now he knew that Regina did not regret what she had done. She was delightfully uncomplicated in that regard. He suspected she regretted losing Henry and losing her war and her curse but she would never regret destroying the Charming's. She would never regret the hurt and the pain she had caused Snow White and she most certainly would not regret killing her first husband and choosing dark magic as her friend and weapon. Jack imagined even now there was some plot—hell she was plotting with him wasn't she?

He supposed that Regina knew that Emma would have to live. The world where Emma was not in Henry's life had gone but Jack knew Regina and he imagined she had long ago reconciled herself to come to that point. She could deal with Emma but not the Charming's. The loss of Cora and what she viewed as the kidnap of her son was something that she could never reconcile with.

And Jack would roll with the good and the bad. To be honest he was amazed that he could read her this well. But then again—he was used to watching power and reading it, his father, his commanding officers, his daughter. Regina was just another tick in the long line of people that he had been able to witness rise and fall.

And with that plan in mind he went to bed woke up showered and managed to get out for the first time in a week to see what was happening. He had not heard from Regina. He had not heard from Emma but he knew he would know if she was gone.

How long had it been now?

* * *

Sometimes Killia—no Hook, that was his title now Hook—thought that he was getting a bit too old for this. He was nearing his three hundred and eighty seventh birthday and he still looked like he was in his early thirties and still felt like he had left his heart in the body that had been hastily wrapped in grey cloth and thrown without ceremony in the ocean.

So how long had it been now? Since the day where his life had been ripped apart? The life he would remind himself on the nights he really did want to torture himself, he had rebuild in the aftermath of Liam's death.

He found himself thinking more and more of Milah as he was forced into an alliance with people that quite frankly he wouldn't take as deck hands. But preservation was something that he had learnt had to be protected at all costs. Hook was too fond of his life to risk his revenge over two humans and if they brought the Dark One too him…well…they were easily disposed of later.

That was what he told himself as he watched the man gleefully crow over Cora's daughter.

After all he had done much worse.

But…but…oh maybe there was something that was keeping him awake, that was niggling in the back of his mind. Something, someone, some voice that sounded like his brother. Something that told him that Regina was Cora' daughter, and Cora had been an ally. That Emma Swan did not deserve to be blind sighted like this. That he could stop this. Whatever plot these two had it was not going to give him what he wanted.

And he could admit that what he wanted was the same thing as the Queen.

Revenge.

He wanted the man they now called Gold's head stuck on a pike in the town square.

He shut his eyes as he walked back to the harbour where his ship was. That was his one goal and he didn't need anything to distract him.

And after all, he told himself sternly. He had done much, much worse in his lifetime.

* * *

Jack was stirring his coffee when the three of them came in. He took in that with one long look before he dropped his eyes to his coffee. They came in the three of them. Emma first…but the two idiots (he could hear Regina say in his head) followed as if terrified that something would happen if she was let out of their sight.

Emma grinned at him when she saw him but her eyes were tinged with sadness and Jack was right. David's old boss had told David that his dog was dead.

"I'm sorry about Reg" Emma said hugging him and Jack took a moment to swallow down the pain and hug her back relishing the fact that she fell into his arms and folding into them without effort weather or not she was eight, eighteen or twenty eight. He also took in David Nolan on the rack of jealously and knew that Emma hug him like she hugged Jack.

"I know darling" he said finally. "I know you wanted to be there. I should have told you but there are memories—" he cut himself off. He was not sharing those memories with anyone, not Emma and certainly not the two people standing behind her that he couldn't help but see as his enemy. He swallowed back the bile that he longed to spit and then sat down as if nothing had happened. Emma took the seat opposite him and then as if they had been invited the Charming's took the seats from one table and sat so that he was boxed in.

Jack took another gulp of coffee. If they were hoping that he was going to become offended or angry then he was not going to give in. He had been prepared for this. He had not expected this conversation to go on without someone in this town telling these two that their daughter was having a conversation with her adopted father who was at best sympathetic to the Evil Queen and at worse in league with them.

He allowed himself a smile and nodded at them. Half the town used this place—he was not going to make a scene.

"I spoke to Regina the other week" he said casually. "I thought you should know. I think she's gone into hiding but I cannot be sure"

Actually that wasn't far from the truth because since his self-imposed exile he had no idea what the hell Regina was doing.

"She tell you anything?" Emma asked.

Jack let his eyes flicker to the woman that Regina had dedicated her life to destroying.

"She told me many things. It was the night after her mother had died I believe"

Snow White shifted her face going as white as milk, as white (he thought scathingly) as a martyr facing a public death. Her husband made a small noise in the back of his throat and reached out to pet his wife's arm. Jack took one moment to take in the Disney Character turned Real Life Person in her panic and then dropped his eyes to his plate thinking that he had seen enough to ponder on in that moment.

"She said she needed sometime but…Emma she said something else. I was going to ask in private but…well…seeing as your all here…" he deliberately let the sentence drag out seeing how far this would go, how far he could push this and he saw David Nolan angle his body as if he was a man preparing for a fight.

"Yeah?" Emma asked now staring at the menu. Jack felt something in his body uncoil. All his instincts were telling him that his girl knew nothing about the plot developing between the two people sitting close to them. He wondered how much of the town knew about it. How many of them would go with their leaders. Like it or not for some this was the only world they had ever known. And Jack knew enough about teenagers to know that most would rather lose their arm than lose their phone, the desire of the Charming's to rebuild their kingdom be damned.

Or would they even give them the choice? Would they just use a spell? Were they even more calculating than Gold? Were they going to be his enemy from this moment on for evermore? Would Jack have to kill his daughter's biological parents before they killed him?

"She err…well…" he said hoping to play dumb. "She said something about the Enchanted Forest was it? That you all planned to return to it. That you planned to take Henry, and you were going Emma…and that I wasn't apparently invited." At this point he turned to look at the two guiltiest people he knew and he made damn sure in that second that they saw the depth of his contempt for them before his expression became smooth again.

"What?" Emma said looking up from the menu turning to her parents and looking shocked.

"Emma you knew about the beans" Snow White said her voice as soft as honey. "I told you what we wanted of course we were going to ask Jack. I was just waiting for the right time"

Emma frowned and Jack knew that she too had heard the lie in her mother's voice. She stood up and Jack smirked into his coffee cup. He had won this battle he thought, if the Charming's wanted to play dirty over this girl then he would as well and he would win, he had a determination that came with fighting too long and too hard and losing too much and more to the point he had nothing else left to lose.

"Don't lie Mary Margaret" she said her voice cold. "It's like seeing through a mirror. I have to go—" she continued cutting across David's interruption. "I have to go and see if I can find out about Tamara—Neal's fiancé" she said for his benefit.

"I know she's up to something though nobody else seems to believe me"

There was something about her in that moment that made Jack think of the child she had once been. The one that had turned up on his doorstep and had looked amazed that someone could want her. Emma had always been an easy child to love and it amazed him even to this day that someone like Neal had taken that love and pissed it all away.

Maybe that was the real reason why Jack wanted to see him on the floor at his feet in agony.

"Would you like me to come with you? Or would you like to go alone?" he asked quietly.

Emma watched him for a second and only Jack saw it because Jack was looking for it. Emma was his daughter and he couldn't deny that she had picked up a few bad habits from him. And he couldn't deny that while she could read him he could read her.

He saw her eyes flicker to the Charming's. He saw in her the little girl who had been so badly hurt as a child and he knew that she in turn despite how wrong it was, despite how mad it was, wanted to hurt them. They might have not asked to be ripped apart but Emma had (or at least she thought she had) born the brunt of that separation. And she was pissed. She was still pissed.

"Yes please" she said and Jack stood up edged around the Charming's with an expression of triumph that he allowed them both to see and wrapped one arm around his daughter thinking that despite the fact he had won this round the war between them was not over and he knew intimately that the three of them would never trust each other and he the Marine, the man and the brother was in this for the long haul regardless of weather or not he ended up fighting alone.

* * *

 **And there you go, Hook's point of view is always fun so I hope you enjoyed it and I also enjoyed writing the Charming's as complicated people capable of good and bad rather than one dimensional Disney characters so this was fun. Let me know what you think.**

 **Next Chapter-Regina is tortured. Hook goes to Jack thinking he might not get shot. The Charming's, Emma, Jack and Hook form an unlikely alliance and Neal makes the ultimate sacrifice. **


	21. A High Hope For A Low Heaven

**Hello, here is the second to last chapter of the Season 2 arc. Now that exams are ending and I just have to work there will be a bit more of a regular update to my work. There are twelve more chapters left to this story if I calculate right and just one more of this arc.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine just this story.**

 **And this chapter has changed a little bit from the teaser on the last one so I hope you enjoy.**

 **Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 21-A High Hope For A Low Heaven

Regina is tortured. Hook goes to Jack thinking he might not get shot if he plays his cards right. The Charming's, Snow White and Jack have a long conversation about Emma and find themselves forming a very uneasy alliance while Neal makes the ultimate sacrifice.

* * *

He had not wanted to do this. Hook had really not wanted to do this but he had to admit that this was the lesser of the two options. He had skulked around the town for two days and had come to the conclusion that rather than going to Swan it might be easier for Swan to see him with someone she trusted. He imagined that little gun she was holding packed a good punch.

The best person that was he had gathered from his snooping was Swan's other father. Not the uptight one who could pass for Swan's brother who screamed royalty from their world but the older one who seemed at the very least unlikely to shoot him without hearing his side of the story first. Especially when it came to Regina who Hook had noticed from attuning himself to the gossip of Storybrooke he had, had a fling with in this past.

Also he was reportedly mistrustful of the Charming's and that was another factor in a person that Hook needed right now.

The house was small and dark when he let himself in and he took a seat at the little kitchen table. He was there for no more than an hour when the door opened and the man known as Jack Reynolds to most of the town (and a few other names to the most diehard fans of the Charming's came in).

For a second he stared at Hook and then something that was almost a smile flickered across the face. For a moment there was nothing and then the man was moving around the table to the sink.

"I don't suppose you take coffee or tea?" he asked finally.

Hook blinked. He didn't know what coffee was and he and tea had never gotten on well—to many bad memories of the Navy and that swill they had given them to drink in the morning if they were lucky and they could get the fires working.

"Rum?" he asked.

The man shot him another long look.

"White or Dark?"

"What?"

The man clicked his fingers once and Hook feeling like he was a small deckhand again passed his hipflask over. The man took a swig, grimaced and then grinned.

"Nice. Could have used some of that in Iraq"

Hook had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

He opened his mouth and then closed it again. He had a job to do. It was no use asking questions about something that even he knew would take to long for him to understand. Instead he took his flask back and he took another long draught of drink.

There was a pause as Reynolds went to the strange looking thing on the side of his sink and filled it with water.

"If your thinking about hitting me with that I wouldn't bother" he pointed out because that thing did look heavy.

The man didn't so much as look at him instead routing under a cupboard until he found another bottle of something dark that looked (even to the heavy drinker that Hook was) absolutely lethal. He paused taking it in with some trepidation.

"I'm not going to kill you. I figured there's a reason you're here and I don't think it's to kill me."

"It's not" Hook said surprised. It generally took people a lot longer to do what this man was doing now. Sitting down and talking to him as if he was an equal—as if he knew things that Hook could never think to know. He had a confidence that was superb. No wonder the Charming's loathed him and Regina Mills did not.

"It's about the Evil Queen" he said finally. Better get this over with one way or the other.

"Oh"

Yes. Oh indeed.

Hook was not stupid—he knew that eventually at some point his luck might out he just assumed that it would be at the hands of the Dark One. Actually right now if he was going to put money on someone killing him then he might actually have to put a couple of coins more on this man if the way he was looking at him was anything to go by.

There was another long beat of pause and then Hook decided to speak.

* * *

The knock on the door pulled her away from her coffee. There was still a stony silence between her and her parents for lack of a better word. Henry could pick up on it but he attributed it to the Outsider, and more naively Emma thought to his father's new fiancé in town. She wanted to scream and shout and rage but she didn't know why or even how she would stop if she did that. She was only here because she had still not gotten around to finding her own place, she supposed she could ask Jack if she could move back in with him but the issue was that she wasn't sure if Henry would abandon this idea of a Happy Ending Family that he thought the five of them were and she wasn't sure if she could leave without him considering she seemed to be one of the few people who could keep Regina at bay. But she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep back the snarl that was building between her lungs and her teeth.

Because Emma knew that everything that Jack had said was correct and more to the point she knew she was an absolute hypocrite because the idea of a future where she was the only uncontested mother to Henry was also very appealing.

Maybe if she didn't have Jack in her life things would be different. Maybe if she had no idea what it was like to have a stable home life then she wouldn't begrudge her parents for wanting something different. But she did. She wanted her father in her life—when times were hard he had proven time and time again that he was there—strong, stable, solid Jack Reynolds. Hell Emma was pretty sure that if there was a man who could figure out how to be immortal it would be him.

So when her mother told her that the beans had all been destroyed and that Regina must have been the one who did it Emma nodded and said outwardly that they would find a way to stop Regina before she committed more damage. That was true in a way because she had a feeling Regina would want only one thing with those beans but at the same time a small part of her flared up with something like amusement and slightly more disturbing—gratitude because that was at least one thing taken care off. No beans meant nothing was going to happen. No beans meant no painful conversation with her parents, with Neal, with Jack or with anyone else because this was Emma's world and despite what David had tried to sell to her there had been some good memories down the line.

And most importantly no beans meant her parents were keeping their mouths shut in front of Henry who would probably be desperate to go to a school in the forest and learn how to chop wood with a sword and ride horses and other things that boys did in the Enchanted Forest.

She stirred her coffee again with a bit more strength than she would have liked as she ended up with bits coming down from either side of her mug. The knocking persisted.

"Ugh" she said moving to the door before either one of her…roommates could do it. There was something about that knock that Emma vaguely remembered and then it came back.

Jack.

She reached the door and opened it.

Jack was there leaning against the wall in jeans and a shirt and his boots. He looked like it could have been any other day except for the gun that was resting in his hand and more to the point the size of the gun in his hand. It was the same gun that she had seen at various points in her childhood—one of the guns that Emma knew he had, had in the war. It was long and lethal looking and all of a sudden her own gun felt slightly for show.

"We have a problem" Jack said and Emma forced her eyes past his expression to see who was hovering in the doorway looking somewhat sheepish (and that did nothing to diminish his attractiveness she thought bitterly). Captain Hook was stood there tapping his hook against his chin. He caught her somewhat stunned expression and winked. Without evening turning around Jack made a coughing noise and Hook immediately stopped any forms of flirtation which Emma thought could perhaps be considered a near miracle.

She was aware that there were two silent statues near her side and she gritted her teeth against the constant pull of irritation she felt.

"Yeah we do" was all she said stepping back and nearly catching David on the toe with the heal of her boot. She winced and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This was getting annoying. This was getting annoying fast.

And that was only the half of the story.

* * *

"So it looks like Emma was right" Snow White said finally. "About Tamara." She sounded woebegone and Jack who knew damn well it was a combination of guilt for many sins not just this one had to resist the urge to say something that he really didn't mean.

"She usually is you know" he pointed out. Emma had gone in search of Regina taking David and Hook and had left him play house to a week Snow White. The whole tears and screaming with pain Snow White had done with some sort of magic that he didn't understand had freaked him out so never mind what kind of state Henry was in playing as he was in the playground as if his other mother wasn't fighting for her life and her sanity at this very second.

"She has good instincts. Not perfect. But good. Once she's made up her mind about someone she generally sticks to that opinion"

"Not perfect?" Snow White asked.

"Neal" Jack said finally his mouth curling around the word as if it was something nasty.

There was a pause where Snow stood there and watched him for a second.

"You don't like him"

"You do"

In neither one of those statements was there a question.

"I don't like him" Jack said breaking the silence. "He left her in a prison cell. I don't care about his reasons. He left her pregnant, and I told her you know, I said if she wanted to keep Henry then she could. But she didn't. He did a lot of damage on her. He did a lot of damage. There was only so much I could pick up. And then he came back and suddenly it's like none of that matters. And you want them to be together because it's going to be a your little happy family. Your Princess married to her Prince Charming. It won't happen. Even I can see that. He's not right single or otherwise. And he'd make her unhappy. And…" he smiled as he imagined the picture.

"You'd still have Gold to contend with. I doubt even Neal thinks that he's going to change his ways. Once your ingrained in something then it's hard to stop. Gold won't stop. Neal won't kill his father even if he did abandon him—too much of history repeating. And Gold and Regina have something underneath all of it, an alliance against you. They revert back to each other. You taking Emma and Henry and running is nothing short of child abduction and you know it"

Snow White didn't say anything but instead regarded him with big eyes as if he was a book that she desperately wanted to read. As if she wanted to predict what he would do now. There was a pause as she stood there and then she dropped her eyes down to her coffee mug.

"What was she like" she said finally. "Emma"

Jack paused as he took in the question and how to answer it. He decided on the truth. The reality was he was too lazy to lie.

"She came to me when I was five" he said finally. "She was all blonde hair and big eyes and no smiles. I wasn't great. I was young and the war had done it toll up here" he tapped his head with one finger.

"Emma was a crutch in the beginning. I was a crutch. We leaned on each other. More than we should have done I think. She had nightmares, I had nightmares, and that first year I did it all wrong. It was summer you see and it was a long hot summer that first year and I would work on my car trying to chase ghosts away till three in the morning and she would sit up with her cocoa and watch me, sometimes she'd talk, sometimes I'd find her asleep in the backseat. It got easier when she got into school and into a routine I suppose. But…I don't know…she had her demons and I had mine. And I was…I am a good Dad. I did it all by myself. And I thought she loved and needed me the same way. I know she does. I know she does now but when he came along well…"

"Neal?" Snow White prompted. Jack nodded.

"Oh he set alarm bells off. Had the look of a kid who'd had it rough. Of course I had no idea how rough until now but—he had an arrogance that beat mine when I was his age to boot but there was something _off_ about him. And he left her in prison, he made her do the crime—maybe he set her up I don't know, I never asked but…he'll do it again. Somehow he'll hurt her. And I think you don't want that. So stop backing that horse now because when it happens she'll look for someone to blame. She blamed him before, she blamed me a little bit for never liking him, she blamed Henry in her blackest days thinking he'd have come back if she wasn't pregnant though there was nothing I could do about that. It's easier for her. Means she doesn't have to blame herself, think, feel anything."

He paused remembering the handcuffs on his daughters legs and then shook his head. Some memories were better left unsaid even in the quiet of the room.

"Do you love Regina?"

Jack blinked.

"Not yet" he said so caught of guard that he had found that finally he was answering honestly. "I don't know enough about the emotion I suppose. I had two people that I loved. One's long dead and the other is Emma. And they were a very different kind of love. I know Regina's got blood on her hands, so have I, so have you. I know she's done unspeakable things, so have I, so I think have you. And I know that she's broken in ways that you know about. I know about Daniel she told me. I have seen things you cannot comprehend even with all the wars you sat on horseback and watched fought. Did you ever see what the trenches were like I wonder? Regina's not perfect. But she's not someone you can write off. And until she becomes that she needs someone in her corner."

"I killed her mother" the whisper was loaded with shame and Jack found himself smirking despite himself.

"Yeah. Sounds like the bitch had it coming"

Snow White inhaled half her coffee unable to stop the snort of laughter.

"I went to Regina and asked her to kill me. She refused, she said there was a darkness inside my heart"

Jack did laugh at that. Trust Regina to play on Snow White's ultimate fears. Even half mad with a grief she didn't understand the woman was indomitable.

"Of course she did. Darling if we all don't have some form of darkness in us then what's the point. We do mad and bad things to protect our family what matters is how we deal with it. You had a straight forward choice. Kill Cora or eventually lose your family. The only reason you feel guilty is because you know Regina is right. You did help set her on this path, your father certainly didn't help matters. A part of you I bet glorified in the knowledge that he loved you more and honestly did you give Daniel a second thought? You were never guilty about Cora. You were feeling guilty about everything else"

Snow White considered this for a moment.

"I suppose you might have a point" she conceded.

"Did you ever love Regina?" Jack asked curiously.

Snow White considered this.

"I did once" she admitted "Actually—a part of me still does. David doesn't understand it but…I suppose for me at least until the end it wasn't so bad—I truly never knew about Daniel. God if I had know what was going to happen—" she shook her head. Jack nodded.

"You know" she said finally. "We don't have to be enemies"

"No" he said dragging out the word. "I don't suppose we do"

Whatever was going to be said next between the two of them was put on hold when the door crashed open. David came in clutching Regina bridal style who looked half dead. He deposited her on the bed but Snow White got to her first. Jack turned to see Emma by the doorway and knew instantly that something was wrong. She had gone a horrible shade of white like gone off milk.

"Emma" he said crossing to her side. "What happened?"

Finally she looked at him and her mouth worked as if she had trouble finding the words.

"It's Neal Dad" she said calling him by the moniker that she sometimes used.

"It's Neal—he's…he's dead. I saw him die."

* * *

 **And yeah...There's a cliffhanger for you all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I will endeavour to update sooner rather than later.**

 **Next Chapter-As we come to the end of a Season 2 arc, Emma and Regina fight to stop the town exploding. Emma comes to the conclusion that perhaps for once in her life she can have both sides of the coin. Jack observes Hook and a shock decision by Greg and Tamara see Emma, Regina, Jack, Snow, David, Hook and surprisingly Rumple take to the High Seas.**


	22. Sea Change

**Hi, so here is the end of Season 2. I hope you all enjoyed this arc and I will endeavour to update sooner rather than later but what with exams and that slow creep towards results I have been somewhat waylaid. To anyone sitting exams or waiting on the results I wish you all the best of luck.**

 **This chapter is a lot less dialogue heavy that i would have like but i think the conclusion of Season 2 saw Emma accept who she was for the first time and this chapter shows Jack accepting it as well. Going forwards the Charming's have to include Jack and Jack vice versa so that presents some fun things to write for Season 3!**

 **Also this story is Captain Swan. As said in the summary of this story that is one of my main pairings. Just a reminder.**

 **Also on another note-Yes I understand that Regina has done some evil things in her past. Yes I understand that for Emma and Regina Season 2 was about custody of Henry. But for Jack who has grown up on one world and then found himself in another he doesn't make a distinction between magical laws and his own. Also while I like the Charming's as characters I think post Season 4 and certainly the first part of Season 5 I found their behaviour too much to handle. I think there is a lot hypocrisy there and I did want someone to call them on it. But that is my opinion-I know it's not always everyone else's.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine just Jack.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 22-Sea Change

As we come to the end of the Season 2 arc, Emma and Regina fight to stop the town exploding. Emma comes to the conclusion that perhaps once in her life she can have both sides of the coin. Jack observes Hook and a shock decision by Greg and Tamara see Emma, Jack, Regina, Snow, David, Hook and suprisingly Rumple take to the High Seas.

* * *

Regina lay with her eyes closed for a very long time. She could hear enough from what was going on. She knew that Neal was dead. Her son's father was dead. Well she thought through the inkling of the pain that was still flowing through her body and through her brain. There was a long pause as she lay there and listened. Snow White felt guilty—well a good part of her revelled in that. Naturally the bitch felt guilty. Of course she felt guilty about the wrong fuckign thing but that was her stepdaughter all over.

Her mother or not Regina had accepted a long time ago Cora's life would end one way. She had dreamed for a long time of doing it herself but if she was being honest she had always thought that Rumple would be the one who would deliver fatal blow. God knows in terms of fear he had been the only one that her mother had ever been afraid off. If she was being honest with herself she could understand why—she could also understand the _other_ attraction as well but…ugh…

It would have been easier if Snow had been sorry for Daniel. She could have enjoyed that. Her excuses at the time had been half assed at best and pitiful. Snow had had no idea until Regina had casted her curse what it was like to lose your past, your present, and your future. Granted her revenge might have backfired but that sense of watching the inevitable happen and knowing that there was nothing that you could do to stop it? Well. That was somehting that Regina desperatly wanted Snow White to learn about. And she had succeeded in that. Daniel in someway was avenged. The loss of him…the ache…the agony…well…that was something.

She had lost her future. Snow White has lost hers.

Perhaps she should leave her revenge there. Was this pain worth it? Was it worth what would happen the next time some child became bitter and broken? Greg was the child that had made her want a child for the first time. Greg had been her Henry. Her reason for finding Henry or at the very least the image of her Henry. Greg had been the child that had forced her to acknowledge weather or not she wanted to be a mother.

There was another pause as she lay there listening to the conversation…and then she heard something that made her pause and consider every action that had taken place since Emma Swan had arrived in town. Jack loved her…

Or Jack could love her at any rate.

Which had to mean something. Because if she was being honest with herself then there was something about this man that had made her want to scream at him and then kiss him in the very same moment.

Could she love Jack?

Could she be with Jack?

The answer to that was still the same. Take a leap of faith.

Regina was not the type of woman to do that.

But she did want Henry to have a life better than what she had, had. She wanted that for her son and her baby. And if she had to fight agaisnt the agent of her machine then she would do that. If by stopping the detonation of her fail proof ending when it came to the curse involved what she knew would be the sacrificing of her life then she would do that. There was another pause as she lay on the admittedly very soft pillows and fought back the urge to fall back into the beckoning call of sleep. There was another long hearbeat where she made sure that she could listen to the conversation and then once it was clear that nothing new was happening she opened her eyes and sat up feeling the pain ache throughout her body so much so that she had to grit her teeth and fight back the urge to collapse. But Regina was a Queen—she had suffered worse and she'd had a series of long hard lessons in which to enforce her composure. She was certainly not going to fall at this hurdle…

She knew what was waiting for her at the end of it. Bean or no bean she knew.

Actually that made it all a little bit easier to stand up and move without her knees buckling and look into Jack's face…into Henry's face…and lie through her teeth about how she was going to stop the full force of what was coming.

* * *

Jack was watching her out of the corner of her eye. Emma could see it. There was another long pause as she stood there in the diner listening to the concerns of the townspeople. Regina had gone off to see if she could stop that—well whatever it was. She had gone with her head held high and her face smooth and mask like and even Jack who had been one of the best when it came to getting under people's skin had been unable to tell just what Regina was doing and Emma even knowing that what she was doing was the right thing (for once in Regina's long life) couldn't find it in her to be glad that she was doing it.

She suspected this would break the hearts of both Henry and her fahter and both of them meant too much to Emma for her to do that willingly. And if she was being honest with herself Regina walking to her death was not something she wanted on her concious much either. She had wanted the woman to suffer yes—die—no. Henry wanted her to live. Jack wanted her to live. A part of Emma for his sake…for Jack's sake had to want the same thing. But at the same time if she didn't tell anyone what Regina was doing…the plan that she had…that would be something that she was pretty sure neither realtionship would come back from.

And Emma knew she herself couldn't live with what had happened if they didn't at least find another way. There was one more bean. One more shot of a life for her and her son absent any threats. A life with her and her parents and Jack and Henry.

But did she want that?

Did she want a life with Mary Margaret and David? Was she ready to give up her creature comforts that came from the world that she had known for nearly twenty nine years? Was she ready to give up her car, hot chocolate, cinnamon, internet and her own clothes, the ablity to eat take out and things that she needed like tampons and contraception? All of these things that she had grown up with. And then there was Jack. His life was here…there were no hidden fairytale characters in his past and more to the point he was uncomfortable in Storybrooke never mind the Enchanted Forest where everyone knew he was an Outsider.

"Emma?" there was her mother—the touch of her shoulder and she had to swallow down the shout that rose in her throat. She didn't want to be touched right now. She had to think about another plan. She had to think about the next step. And then suddenly it came out.

"Regina is going to sacrifice herself. And I think we should let her"

She didn't dare look at Jack. But she was shocked somewhat when he didn't immediately point out that they should save Regina. She listened to Herny's impassioned pleas that they shoud save his mother and quite unlike the last time where she had listened too him Emma knew she couldn't do that again. She and Regina had always had one thing in common and much like that night in the hosptial when Regina had brokenly told her the truth it was the one thing that had kept one from killing the other.

Henry.

And Herny now wanted her to do what she thought was impossible yet again.

Sometimes rare though they were Emma could understand Jack's fustration with the boy. Kid for all that Henry was he had no idea still what kind of danger he put other people in, what kind of strain. Emma was not a mircale worker. She was not (contary to everyone's believes) a saviour. She was Emma Swan and up until seven months or so ago she had been perfectly safe in that knowledge that she was ordinary. She didn't want to be extra ordinary—she wanted to be her. And yet Herny one of the most important people in her life kept pushing her to be more than that and it was getting fucking irritating.

"Look" she said pinching her forehead as her mother and father chimed in with their two cents (a part of her knew that Snow White was only doing it to assure her guilt about her part in Cora's death even before the other woman said it). "There isnt another option here. If there was I'd use it but Regina knows what she's doing and there's nothing I can do to stop it"

"Use the bean to get rid of the thing" came a voice in the stillness.

Emma turned half amazed and half shocked that Jack had gotten himself involved in the whole hocus pocus thing that he still considered the magic of Storybrooke. There was a long moment where she stared at him and he stared back and Emma wondered what on earth her father saw when he looked at her.

"Of course" her mother said looking thrilled at the prospect. Emma supposed she would this was her mother's way of trying to make up for her past sins. It was also a way that Emma could look both her fahter and her son in the eye and sleep at night soundly. Or soundish depending on how Regina reacted when she realsied that she wouldn't die and that this ciricle between the two of them continued. She sighed feeling something under her skin prickle with unease. Emma couldn't help but wonder if something worse was out there. Granted this problem solved the one of innimant death but Tamara was still out there and Greg both Outsiders who knew Storybrooke's biggest secret.

"You'd do that?" Emma felt compelled to ask the townspeople. It was their lives, it was their homes. They had a chance to escape back to the only life that they had ever known and she felt that it was only fair to ask them if staying here and gambling that security away was really what they wanted. Afterall…they had had no say in coming to Storybrooke had they?

"Of course we'd do that" Archie said looking annimated. "We've followed Snow White and Prince Charming into more than one scrape and we've managed to come out alright. There our officers"

Emma nodded but before she could open her mouth to speak a voice cut across her.

"Oh for fucks sake"

It was Jack.

She turned to look at him but for once his eyes were on on her. They were on her parents and it was with an expression of deepest disgust. He turned and swept one look over the townspeople and then he shook his head. "I've seen officers. I've served under officers. You two" he pointed at her parents. "Are not fit to spit on their shoes"

There was a terribly awkward pause which was only broken (and thank the Lord for that) by the door opening. It was Hook.

* * *

Jack had been dispactched to find the rengage pirate while the Charming's and Emma went to find Regina and tell her that there was a chance to end the destruction of Storybrooke. He couldn't help but feel lethargic about the whole thing. He should worry about the fate of the town, the fate of his daughter and the fate of his grandson but in all honestly he was still too rilled up from that comment to do much but aim a kick at a nearby block of wood and miss completely.

Officers. Officers…

He had known people he would serve under. Who could inspire people. His daughter's biological parents were in his opinion very far below the benchmark. He felt like screaming at the thought of them both. And more to the point he had been trying to control himself around them. To mask his opinion which was that Emma was the best out of that family by a country mile and that he should let this place burn around his ankles and take her and Henry and go. He did love Henry even if the kid was irritating. He was at that age where he was questioning the world and Jack knew he shouldn't hate that just because when he had questioned the world his father's response had been to smack him hard.

And anyway he didn't know why he was searching for Hook. Hook was coming back anyone with a pair of eyes could see that the damn leather clad hippie lunatic had the hots for Emma. That should bother him but the fact was as far as Jack was concerened any man that was not Neal was good in his book and Hook had been the one to tell them about Regina.

Jack liked to think he was a good judge of character in that kind of way. The one time he had met Neal he had thought that the charm was sleeze and when he had met Hook he had seen someone damaged in more ways than one, who had done bad things, terrible things of that he had no doubt but he had to admit that he found it hard to believe that anyone was evil.

Regina…Hook…anyone.

He was not a man that believed in evil. He didn't hate—the last person he had hated was his father and that had swirlled around him like posion and he never wanted to feel that consumed by it again. Evil was a strong word to use. And he couldn't believe that it was as black and white as Emma believed, as the Charming's believed. He believed in Grey. Grey area's of people—Jack had done enough bad things to know that the world wasn't as simple as good vs evil like Henry and his grandparents believed and maybe that was why the boy forced him to bite his tongue so much. Henry had seen nothing of the world outside of this town and here it was easy to believed that evil was one woman who had wanted nothing at the end to hold onto her child. Maybe he could empahsise with Regina because he understood the fear that came when your adopted child, the child that you loved and raised as your own went looking or found their biological parents who wanted to be a part of their lives.

He had been so sure however that Emma had not wanted that. God knows he had given her the option—he had never shut that door on her but she had been adament that she had never wanted to know, that no excuse would ever be enough and yet here she was living with them, making excuses for them, _loving them_ and he found he couldn't stand it because these people had more of a claim to Emma than he did because if they had, had their way he would have never gotten to know the brave, beautiful, strong girl who had landed on his doorstep and who had never really left.

The battle for Henry had been far easier to focus his attention on and Jack could admit now in the privacy of his own mind what he had been most afraid of when life was simple and everyone had been a part of the world that he had known and not some fairytale world that had no place for him. Because then he could symathise with Regina. He might not have agreed with her parenting style but he could understand the desperation she had felt when she had seen Emma and Henry together—hadn't he wondered these months if that would be him trapped on the outside always looking in? Was it any surprise that Regina and he had fallen into bed together?

But no he was getting ahead of himself there. He had to think about what was going on right now. He could put Regina in a box to think about when he had gotten his relationship with his daughter—this new relationship that he didn't want under control—because he had a feeling that death would be the only thing that would have stopped these people and even then that would be a struggle. He was going to have to find a way to live with them, with their memory as well if this endevour today went wrong. The usual rules of custody didn't apply here as much as he wanted them too. And would it have made a differnce? He paused taking another deep breathe of the sea air and wondered.

Things had to change he knew that much, he had to try and live with these people but he didn't know if he could—if he could accomadate these people in the life that he had forged for himself out of pain, and war and loss. There was nobody he could talk to who could understand. Regina could, Regina could understand what he was feeling but he didn't think that his heart and his mind could take another scheme or another bit of magic and he didn't think that Regina was at the point where she could make peace nor the Charming's. it would take a casaclysmic event to see them as allies. Henry was dead—his brother was long gone and Jack couldn't talk to him—hell even his dog was dead. For the first time in his life he found that he needed someone to talk to, someone to tell him what to do and he had nobody. All those years in the corps where he had obeyed orders even when he had believed that they were wrong and the one time he needed a mindless order he couldn't find one person to give it to him.

Fucking typical.

There was a choice in front of him and he knew which one he had to take and yet he wasn't sure if he could stomach being one of the two Dads in Emma Swan's life.

There was a heavy tread of footsteps behind him. Hook came to stand with him and the look on his face told Jack he had expected a fight.

"About time" Jack said not bothering to look at him.

"You didn't know I'd come back" Hook said accusingly. Jack snorted.

"I've seen the way you look at my daughter son, I had a hunch. I'm very rarely wrong about these things."

He turned and Hook followed his expression torn between surpise and denial at what Jack had picked up on.

"It's alright" Jack said as the neared the end of the docks. "Nothing is worse than Neal I suppose and he's dead"

The second he turned to see the end of the docks he knew something was wrong. Emma was screaming and shouting, Regina was pacing around and David Nolan had his hands on his daughter in a way that had Jack running in a way he had not ran in a long time.

He skidded to a hault in front of them and one burning look had David letting go of Emma's shoulders just in time for her to throw herself into his arms.

"They have Henry"Regina supplied looking like she was going to burn someone or something to the ground. "Greg and Tamara they took him—through a portal—we didn't need the bean after all but now they have Henry and I don't know…I don't know…" she pulled away from the group and Jack knew it was to hide her face. He felt something plunge in his stomach—if Regina didn't have a clue what to do next then that didn't bode well for Henry or his safety.

"You still got that spare bean?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth. Hook whose eyes had been on Emma's snapped to his and then started.

"Oh yes I do" he said as if he had only just realised.

Jack sighed closed his eyes opened them after ten seconds and then when he spoke his voice was calm.

"Go and get your ship then and we can go after him"

Hook nodded looking like this idea had never occurred to him.

"Oh" David said looking between the two of them as if he too had picked up on the understanding. Jack reminded himself that he had chosen to work with these people—that they came with Emma and chucking David headfirst into the marina wouldn't help anyone even if would make himself feel better.

Rise above and all that shit.

* * *

It took them maybe ten mintues to get ready because Gold needed some globe thing and Jack insisted on going back for his service weapon which turned out to be a long sniper looking weapon that looked rather lethal as well as several large looking knives that looked rather sharp which he immediately began to hook to the side of his body in a way which made Regina feel rather nervous. Though to be fair that might be the situation they were in.

The Charming', Miss Swan, her old mentor, the one handed pirate with the drinking problem and the wandering eyes and Jack all on board a boat (and Regina had never done well with boats) all going to Neverland. Regina had never been but she had to admit she had heard enough about the place to know it wasn't a holiday destination. More to the point she knew that anything that made her teacher look like _that_ was something that she should be afraid off.

If it wasn't for Henry. For her Henry…

She shook her head and gripped onto the rope a bit tighter. Out of the corner of her eye she caught the resolute expression on Miss Swan's face. They locked eyes for a second and for that moment it seemed that all the death and distruction and pain and loss that they had lived through meant nothing because they were united in this one goal.

Hook gave a grin and then span his wheel and Regina felt the ship gave a heave. Everyone was white knuckling something in which they could hold on to and Regina closed her eyes and found that she was thinking of the boy (that for better or worse) she shared with Emma Swan.

There was another groan from the ship and then they were gone into the darkness that was the magic that flew through the beans. The portal closed behind them and Regina knew without opening her eyes that while the sea above them had turned the same still blue as it was before, nothing for the people on this ship, magical, mortal, believers, non-believers would be the same again.

* * *

 **And there you are. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will try and bring you Season 3 before too long.**

 **Next Chapter-As everyone enters Neverland Jack tries to comfort both of Henry's mothers who both have very different people to blame, he also gets the chance to do something he's wanted to do for a very long time. Hook is seen in a somewhat new light by father and daughter and Emma makes an very dangerous sacrifice.**


	23. Hurricane

**Hi, so here is another chapter. I am thrilled to have this chapter up so soon after the last one. I hope that this pleases everyone as I tried to end a lot of conflict with this chapter. Especially between the Charming's and Jack.**

 **Also Emma does find it easier to trust Snow than David but that's not because of Jack. Even in the show during Season 2 i felt upon re-watching it that she did trust Snow a lot sooner than David. But she did have those weeks in the Enchanted Forest with Snow White and also the relationship with Mary Margaret with Season 1. For this story it was easier to follow that plot line both for continuity but also because Emma has never had a mother-Jack has raised her as a single parent, therefore for her it was easier to establish Snow the role of mother and still in my mind struggle with David. Also what was so great about the Neverland arc was the fact that everyone was working together so a lot of animosity got worked through which is what I intend to happen with his chapter in particular.**

 **Also as I have stated before I do not hate the Charming's as characters. They are not my favourite and in my opinion certainly from Season 4 onwards are poorly written. The whole Queens of Darkness arc destroyed any feelings I had towards the characters and on another note I find them very difficult to write. For some reason it's easier for me to get inside Regina's head than It is there's.**

 **But my rant for now is over! I leave you this chapter and the knowledge that in ten chapters this story will end. Certain events might be skipped over and changed so that it works for this story but the main events will be covered.**

 **I hope you all enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing but Jack is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 23-Hurricane

As everyone enters Neverland Jack tries to provide some comfort to Henry's mothers who both have very different ideas on who to blame, he also gets the chance to do something that he has been wanting to do for a very long time. David and Jack reach a turning point in their relationship, Hook is seen in a somewhat new light by father and daughter and Emma makes a very dangerous sacrifice in the desire for desperate action.

* * *

Jack landed with a thud that reminded him so strongly of being turfed out of his bed by his training officer in the dead of winter for the dreaded nine mile run that his immediate response was to leap upwards despite the aching in his somewhat aging body and look around for the officer coming out of the darkness like some sort of evil monster.

Of course it wasn't that. But still the darkness was strange, pressing on every sense that he had and sending them haywire. He reached behind him for his old service weapon. When they had left the town this morning it had been a good day, a prefect cloudless blue and the sea had been the same. To go from that to darkness in the space of mere seconds was something he was struggling to accustom himself with regardless of all of his training.

There was another long pause as he took in the surroundings and then he noticed that things were beginning to take shape around him. He got the distinct impression that despite the fact that the ship was the only thing around for miles—they were not alone in the ocean of darkness.

Emma pulled herself to her feet wincing. Regina was still standing but she looked windswept and her hands on the rope were white as if she had been gripping them for all that she was worth. He spared one glance at the rest of the ship and saw that the Charming's had collapsed in an undignified heap on the floor and that Hook and Gold were still standing looking completely unphased as if they did this every other day which Jack supposed was not out of the realm of possibility.

"Are were here?" Emma asked looking around as if she was expecting to see a signpost that pointed them to Neverland (you couldn't make this shit up could you?)

"Aye love nearly" Hook said looking grim. "This is the sea around the island. Pan changes the location once or twice every century so my co-ordinates might be a bit off but there's a good chance we'll find them by the time the sun—or whatever he's left of it will rise and show itself. He knows he's here"

"You speak of Peter Pan as if he's the villain"

Hook looked at him. Gold looked at him and then turned to look at Regina.

"He is" Regina said shortly. "I know how Disney portrays him. I watched the movie and everything with Henry when he was a child but…but Pan is the monster in this scenario trust me"

Jack blinked but before he could say anything Emma turned and walked down the length of the ship to the corner and he followed her thinking that if Emma was going to explode then someone that had been there in the aftermath of Neal (both times) would be better off containing the temper that he knew was coiled to strike like some sort of angry snake.

"Don't tell me it's going to be ok" Emma snapped her hands curled into fists on the wooden deck. Jack smiled sardonically.

"Darling have I ever placated you?"

Emma shook her head smacking her fists down onto the wooden beams that kept the ship up.

"I should have seen this coming. I saw Tamara coming a mile off. All I had to do was get Henry out and then—" but before she could finish Jack was already cutting across her. He knew where Emma was going to go and while he was sympathetic he also knew that they couldn't afford it right now. All of them had to keep their head in the game until they had Henry back. Then if Emma wanted she could fall to pieces. Jack's job was to make sure she did get back.

"Don't go there. Seriously Emma you couldn't have predicted this anymore than I could have. They've clearly gotten outside help from someone and you've had a lot on. More to the point this type of thinking makes you sloppy and you make mistakes and then once you start doing that more people get killed. Take it from me it keeps you up at night with some kid that can't sleep working on a car that you keep taking apart just so you'll have something to do"

Emma laughed her eyes suddenly overbright, she looked away as if getting herself under control and Jack let her knowing that she had never been a fan of showing her emotions in private.

"Besides" he said seriously. "Henry would have never have gone. You know that. If he was going to run he'd have never had ate that apple turnover"

"She killed Neal" Emma said finally "And she has Neal's son. My son. She's a dead woman"

Jack nodded privately however he noted that the probability that if Tamara had not killed Neal then Jack at some point probably would have. He instead cast his mind around for a safer topic.

"Are you going to go back to this forest place with them?" he jerked his head to where the Charming's were trying and failing to be inconspicuous with the looks that they were shooting them.

Emma scoffed and there was something in that moment that made him look at her in more detail. When he had gotten on that boat he had assumed that she had accepted as he had that the Charming's were a part of their lives for better or (mostly likely) for worse.

"I don't want their help" she said looking back out over the dark waters. "Their the reason I'm in this mess. They told me to trust Tamara, they made me feel like the jealous ex and then—she—" she jerked her head at Snow White "Asked if I wanted to get back together with Neal. Me, Neal, Henry and them in the Enchanted Forest some ready made family and Neal was the solution to the problem with Gold because Gold listened to him. Regina they didn't really care about, and you they didn't either. All of it was a specific endgame. I hate doubting myself and if I hadn't then this might never have happened"

Jack kept up with this logic and knew deep down that there was a lot of anger that was keeping her in this train of thought and that it probably wouldn't last but bitter experience had taught him that Emma didn't need probing when she was mad. She would work out her own feelings and her feelings towards her parents without his help. Instead he slung an arm around her and pulled her backwards so that she was leaning her back on his chest and they were looking out over the ocean like they were on some sort of family cruise ship.

"Your on my side right?" Emma asked her voice small and Jack was painfully aware of how small Emma had been once. The damage that had been caused had never really gone away and the second she had allowed herself a chance to breathe and think that maybe things were going her way she was told that her instincts that had served her so well (bar that one time and to be fair she'd paid the price with prison) was really the fact that she was jealous.

He didn't want to imagine what it meant if she was. Actually he wouldn't put it past Neal to find some loophole and come back just to fuck around with Emma some more. Jack knew he could be civil for the sake of Henry but he also knew that deep down he would never forgive what Neal had put him and Emma through and he would never accept him either. If that made him a bad person then that was that.

"You know I am" he said finally. "Mostly. When your not being a brat"

Emma laughed then wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. "We'll find him Em" Jack said finally. "I promise you we wont come home without him. I've done missions like this. Extractions like this. This might be the one thing I can help you with"

"No" Emma said into the silence. "You've helped me with a lot more"

And neither one of them said anything else for a very long time until Gold interrupted them with what Hook called a 'costume change'

Jack hated to admit it but he was actually beginning to like this pirate.

* * *

There was very little to do on this ship Regina thought looking around. She had never been good at waiting or sitting on her hands and she found that simply looking at the ocean was not constructive as it made her think of the times she had taken Henry to the pier when he was a baby and he had laughed and laughed as the water had come to his ankles. Her back had been in agony that day and yet it was still one of the best days she had ever had.

She had to look away least the sentiment come over her like a freight train.

"You ok?" said a voice behind her. Regina didn't even bother to turn around. She didn't want to look at Jack right now. She was camping with the Charming's and Miss Swan and her mentor had just abandoned her to them.

"No" she said finally.

"You want me to go?"

"Yes"

"Alright" Jack said not sounding remotely bothered by what she was saying. "Call me when you want me"

Regina nodded hardly caring or even noticing what she was doing. As he left she closed her eyes and as she did she could have sworn to herself that she had heard laughter on the wind that sounded like her son before she had damaged him to the point where he had gone looking for another mother.

* * *

"Right" Jack said finally into the silence staring at the wooden mermaid. "Mermaids exist. Ok. Yeah this is getting too strange"

David shot him a look. He was annoyed no more so than usual whenever Jack spoke and yet there was something in this moment that made him want to strike back which was not usually like him.

He didn't know what more to do he really didn't.

He had tried to give Emma space, tried to get his wife to give Emma space. Parenting was a minefield and it didn't help that there was another man in Emma's life. It was easier he knew for her to accept Snow because there had never been another mother. Plus they'd had that month together in the Enchanted Forest where they had worked through some of that tension. David had had nothing. Jack had had everything. And yeah he knew that was unfair. He knew he should be relieved and filled with gratitude that someone had been out there looking after his daughter and loving her and raising her but at the same time it set his teeth on edge because that had been David's job and all he had been able to do was dump his daughter in a wooden box and pray that the magic worked before he bled out.

And it wasn't Jack per say. Actually, as a person he quite liked Jack it was just that Jack was Emma's dad and he wasn't. Snow had slotted into a role that she was born for and seemed to have done so easily and yet here he was feeling more and more isolated.

And he had thought stupidly that today things had changed…because Emma had ran to him and hugged him and called him Dad and he had thought that life didn't get better than that because right there and then despite the whole dying thing he had been with his family.

And yet…and yet he knew that for Emma a part of that family was missing.

There was something in the very air here there had to be. He wanted to hurt Jack Reynolds and judging by the way his wife was staring at Regina the feeling was more than shared.

Emma screamed somewhat to left of them and all five of them turned around to see a huge wave come crashing down on them. It flung them all backwards and David felt the cold water come down on him soaking him to the very bone and then when he opened his eyes and stood up again it was to a fury that he had never known coursing through his veins.

He wanted to hurt the man who had usurped his place. He wanted to break the man who had been a stand in for him and couldn't understand that it was David's turn to be the dad. And with that he launched across the side of the deck completely missing his daughter's look of horror, his wife rolling around with Regina on the floor and Jack's look of glee and threw the two of them to the floor with a punch that he was pretty sure broke both a knuckle and Jack's nose. Jack however responded so quickly that David had to struggle to see around the hands that were suddenly around his neck. Jack threw him to the side as if he was some sort of doll and then before David could do anything a punch to his stomach had him wheezing.

"Dads stop!" Emma cried shouting into the wind about how they were all going to die but David didn't want to hear it. All he cared about was venting his feelings with the man who had everything and who had never deserved it.

(Of course that feeling was mutual but David didn't know that)

The two of them were rolling around on the deck while Hook attempted to pry them apart but it was his wife's scream—and the stark terror that was in her scream that made David look up at the exact moment that his stomach went into free fall.

Emma was standing on the edge of the ship. There was a moment that seemed to be etched into his brain for eternity where she looked at them and then she turned around and jumped off the ship into the mass of the dark waves beneath them. For a moment, for an endless second nobody moved and then there was a mass of feet rushing for the side of the ship. Uncaring of the ache in his ribs David followed Jack who had blood covering the side of his face.

"Regina get her up here!" Snow shouted.

"I can't" Regina said and David knew without looking that his old adversary was telling the truth. "In this weather I can't even see her, I'll just bring up water and half her leg"

"Well we have to do something" Hook said over the wind.

"I'll go in" Jack said throwing of his jacket. "I've done stuff like this in the Marine's. I can hold my breath until I can get to her"

"You have a broken nose" Regina snapped. "Your breathing is impaired"

"So I'll go" David said standing on the deck.

"Oh for the love of…give me a minute mate otherwise both of you will drown"

He didn't realise that Hook was still speaking or that there suddenly a rope around his waist. All he cared about even when he hit the frozen water was that tuft of blonde hair that was his daughter still as innocent and perfect as she was the day that he had first held her.

David had to acknowledge even as Emma opened her eyes a painstaking ten seconds after he and Jack had hauled her onto the boat that it was the fourth time in his life that he had held his daughter in his arms.

(He also had to acknowledge the fact that Jack had looked just as terrified as he had felt)

* * *

Regina winced as she picked what looked like seaweed out of her hair. She could make is as good as new with magic but the reality was that magic could only do so much. She was in desperate need of a shower either way and she doubted very much weather or not Pan provided these facilities.

But there were much more pressing matters to deal with at this moment she decided and with what was left of her courage (which had taken quite a hit recently didn't you know?) and crossed the deck so that she was standing in front of Jack who was still shooting Emma (who was wrapped in a blanket and refusing to go down to bed) wide eyed looks.

"Come here" she said firmly and with a wave of her hand his nose was repaired. Jack felt it and then grinned. "Alright. This is the one instance where magic is actually kind of cool"

Regina grinned but the smile didn't last long.

"Look…I know I was sharp with you before…but…"

"He's your kid Regina. I feel the same way. Tonight I have…" and Jack cut himself off and Regina realised with a pang that he was struggling with his control and some sort of affection for Jack Reynolds rushed up inside of her.

"Looked like you got in some good hits"

"Eh well. I've been wanting to do that for a long time. About as long a time as I think he's been wanting to do that too me. All good things and all that"

Regina followed where he was looking. David Nolan had just shot Jack a look with a smile attached and Jack smirked back. There was something in there that she couldn't decipher and she found that she didn't want to know. There was something in Jack and David's struggle that reminded her of what she had been through with Emma and yet when she thought of that she had to think of something else because Henry was out there and he needed both of his mothers.

Like he had needed both of them once before.

"Ok" she said quietly.

"Hook's not too bad" Jack said eyeing the man for a second. "He's not…well…he's not too bad"

Regina didn't say anything but allowed Jack thirty seconds to view the pirate before she coughed loudly and his attention was diverted elsewhere.

"Henry will be alright" Jack said quietly. "He's tough. Tougher than I gave him credit for at any rate. He's half Emma and he was raised by you. I doubt this Pan person will be able to turn him or damage him. He's got more faith than anyone I've ever met. And I've met some people over time."

Regina opened her mouth to say something but before she could even figure out what she was going to say Hook opened his mouth and said the words she had both been longing and dreading to hear.

"There she is…there's Neverland"

They turned to look all of them at the dark mass on the horizon.

Neverland.

Henry.

And the changing of their lives forever.

* * *

 **And yeah, I hope this is ok and that you enjoy it. I will try and update sooner rather than later.**

 **Next Chapter-As everyone is in Neverland Emma meets Peter Pan and must reconcile all the different versions of herself. Jack gets into a fight with a Lost Boy and finds his own past in pieces and shares a moment with an unlikely source.**


	24. Stepping Stone

**And there you are, another chapter, hopefully I can publish the next one sooner rather than later. I hope you all enjoy.**

 **As each arc is only 11 chapters some events might be missed or if not glossed over. But there is still a lot more to come from this story.**

 **Thank you all so much for your reviews they really do mean a lot.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **And I will try and have an update for you soon.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 24-Stepping Stone

As everyone is in Neverland Emma meets Peter Pan and must reconcile with all the different roles she has played in the past. Jack gets into a fight with a Lost Boy and also has to reconcile himself with his past and in doing so shares a moment with an unlikely source.

* * *

The walk through the jungle was for lack of a better word painful.

Actually there were several other words that Regina could use but painful seemed to be the politest. If it had been anyone other than Henry she would have used magic long before now. But Hook knew this island better than she did and therefore for the sake of her son she was bowing to his knowledge of the fact that if they used magic Pan would take his anger at the 'breaking of the rules' out on Henry.

But Regina was not a walker. She was a magic user and had always relied on either her car or her magic. Disappearing into smoke had always been something she had enjoyed and she missed it now. Walking was for people like Emma and Hook who had little or no magic. And she worried about Henry. At least when she was using her magic she had someone or something to take her anger out of.

The only small consolation to this pain was that she knew Emma was feeling it too. It was strange almost. How she had gone from calling Emma, 'Miss Swan' to just Emma. They were not friends, but they were bound together now in a way they hadn't been since the last hours of the curse and she suspected that the days where they had both wanted nothing more than to destroy the other had gone.

It had been what Henry had wanted wasn't it?

Hook was walking ahead with the confidence of a man who had done this before and knew the island well. The Charming's were keeping up well though they too were used to physical exercise. Jack on the other hand looked as if he did long mile walks everyday in the humidity (which was utterly ruining her hair) and wasn't even breaking a sweat.

Then again…she supposed he had done this for a living.

They came to a break in the trees looking out on a dark cliff. The piece of paper that Pan (already having been to see Emma the night before—and typically she had not told them about that until the morning) was folded away in Emma's back pocket. Hook had said he knew where the camp was from his own time in Neverland and that the Lost Boys were creatures of habit always returning to places all over the island that meant something to them.

But there was no camp here. No Lost Boys either. Just a rather steep drop and a of forest.

Oh for the love of…

When Regina got Henry back she was going to enjoy wrapping her hands around Pan's neck.

"If the last time you were on this island was over a hundred years ago then how are we going to find him?" Jack pointed out. "Pan will just use magic to hide him from us."

It was a depressingly logical argument.

"Then we need to use magic too"

"No" Emma said turning to her. "I already told you Pan told me to acknowledge what I was and then this thing would show me where Henry was." She took out the piece of paper still blank out of her pocket and was staring at it again as if she could reach through it and pull Henry out of it. Regina gritted her teeth. While she was all for Emma recognising that she was the Saviour (if it meant that Henry would stop doing stupid things to try and prove it to her) there was a time and place for this.

"Enough of this" she said finally pushing herself up from the tree that she was leaning again. She snatched the parchment and instantly it glowed red.

"Ok" she said to the expressions that she faced. "Let's go get our son"

And with that she stalked off through the woods not caring if they were behind her.

She was pretty sure that she could deal with a few moody teenagers with pointy sticks"

It was glaringly obvious that this was a trap.

* * *

Jack could hear his old training officer shouting in his head that, that should have been obvious. This was not an environment that he was comfortable in. He didn't know much about Lost Boys and Dreamshade and magical camps and locater spells. He knew tracking…but there was nothing on this island to track. Magic ran this place…even a cynic like him could see that this place was alive with something unnameable but powerful.

How could he have prevented this?

And yet here they were, all of them pressed into some kind of circle surrounded by teenagers with poisoned sticks prepared to fight to the death for some lunatic in a green suit with eyes that seemed to strip you to the bare bones.

And he didn't like it. They were helplessly outnumbered and he could tell just by looking at them that the Lost Boys had the look of boys who had been through hell and back. They were not easily beaten opponents and they acted like they had nothing to lose. Jack suspected that they lived and died on Pan's approval and once they lost that they would do anything to get it back. He was also willing to bet that they would do anything to stay number one. There were no friendships here only enemies. Fear breeding fear. If they lost Pan's trust and friendship and approval then what did they have.

He understood that in a way he really tried not to think about.

But also…these were children. They were children, teenagers, all under the age of eighteen, some of them under the age of fifteen and they were clearly here to fight to the death and he didn't know weather or not he could harm a child intentionally even if they were trying to harm both himself and the people that he cared about.

But he didn't seem to have a choice.

Suddenly without warning they were upon them.

They were good Jack would give them that. But he had to admit he had the edge on them. They crumpled easily enough when confronted with things they didn't understand and when he fired off a couple of shots into the air three of them ran away looking terrified.

Children indeed.

But one…one was braver.

He caught him around the middle—the boy not much older than fourteen and because he had not seen him coming he had been thrown backwards. Within a second the training he had long since kept dormant inside of him reacted. He used his legs to flip both of them over so he was half on top of this boy and then he looked down.

And it was like looking through a mirror to himself, when he had been the same age. And in much the same shape.

He let go of the boy as if he had been burned.

Already he was scrambling up. Pan was calling his army away and the boys were fleeing into the woods. He went to retrieve his gun feeling slightly ill.

He looked down at his hands. For the first time in a long time they seemed to be shaking.

* * *

There was a silence around the campfire that Killian didn't like. Emma was sat looking at the map. The Prince was off somewhere and considering his jaw still ached from before Killian was not in a mood in which to stalk after him. His old friend and his old adversary Regina was decidedly ignoring everyone and no way was Killian going to go over there and ask if she was ok. He knew Regina's temper—having been on the receiving end of it himself many a time and of course you know—having been somewhat responsible for the torture she had suffered under the hands of The Outsider.

Instead he took a seat opposite Emma's other father. The one who hadn't tried to shoot him yet—which Killian took as a good sign and not a reason to rule a mile.

"You alright mate?"

Jack didn't say anything for a while and then when he spoke he was still looking at his hands.

"How do they get here?"

"Who?"

"The Lost Boys. How does Pan choose them?"

"He has various methods. He has a…shadow…he separates it from him and goes around taking children who believe in magic. I heard once he used a pipe to lure the children at night into disappearing with him. He uses people, tricks them, gets them desperate. And then of course people help him. Its mostly orphans I think. Boys who won't attract attention by going missing. Boys with a bit of hope that are easy to grab. Anyone in the waters of Neverland are warned to hand over children to him. I did"

It was a bitter admission to make but he made it anyway.

Jack raised an eyebrow.

"You?"

"Bae…well you'd call him Neal…I fished him out of the sea and he was there and…" he shook his head not wanted to dwell on Milah or her son.

"Did Emma not tell you?"

"No"

"Oh."

"Are they beyond help do you think? I mean Neal got off this island didn't he?"

"Yes…I'm not sure how the hell he did it. To be honest I'm not sure how were going to do it. As for them being beyond help I'm not sure. They are loyal to Pan but it's fear mostly. Take Pan away from them and I don't know. If you've got ideas about taking them back with you then your going to have a battle on your hands. There used to no help, hunting for food and water and shelter, fighting amongst themselves, killing occasionally so I heard. It would be an uphill battle for them to become model school children"

Jack snorted. "You know Captain someone once said the same about Emma. They used to say the same about me and my brother. I think we all turned out alright"

And there it was again, the mention of a past that he couldn't help but want to know about. He didn't think of brothers without thinking of Liam and thinking of Liam still hurt as if he had died in his arms yesterday.

Being on this damn island didn't help matters much either.

"You had a brother?"

"Yeah. Didn't have much of a father, so I had to raise him mostly. He's dead now. Look in that kid's eye…kinda reminded me of him"

Killian nodded feeling the old pain run through him like the poison had ran through Liam's veins.

"I too had a brother" he said finally.

"He's dead too?"

"Yeah…Pan killed him"

There was a pause that seemed to stretch for an eternity. And then…

"And you still gave him Neal?"

"I had a crew to think about, my own life, a mission that demanded my full attention. I didn't have friends or family that I cared about enough to stand against him. I didn't have magic…And I never did care about things like that. I never said I was the good man in all of this. He was the son of my enemy"

 _And the son of the woman I loved._ He thought but didn't say. Somethings were best remaining private. Some things were too raw for Pan to overhear and use and manipulate. Milah had to remain a closely guarded secret for as long as he could keep her as such.

Jack snorted suddenly. "You got any rum?"

"Always"

Their little conversation was broken then by the parchment which had suddenly began to glow with some sort of yellow light and was rising by it's own magic to the middle of the clearing they were in. They turned and walked over all of them—even Regina from her corner where she'd been staring into space with a blank expression. Whatever had taken place (and judging by the looks on both Swan and Snow White's faces it had taken something to get it out of them) didn't matter. What mattered as Swan said, was that they now had a map. A map to the boy and something resembling a plan.

Now of course they needed a way off this island, they needed a way into the camp as well because if they did steal the boy then there would be hell to pay once Pan found out but…

And then an idea came to him, it was madness Killian knew because getting _her_ help was going to be incredibly difficult. She'd been walking a thin line between being on Pan's good side and his bad side since he had first met her and she'd helped him escape which had not helped. But he knew her, if they promised to take her away from there…

Well…she had revenge in mind as well.

He sighed thinking hard.

Getting Tinkerbelle's help was going to cost something.

Something big.

* * *

Pan left her there sitting in the mud and Emma took a breath trying not to vomit or scream in anger or…well any number of things. They had a plan now, well, they had a map and Hook had seemed confident enough in his reasoning that Tinkerbelle would help them.

(The look on Jack's face when he had announced Tinkerbelle was real had been funny enough to even in these circumstances made her smile for the first time in what felt like weeks)

They could get Henry back from this she knew. For the first time in her life she had hope that she could do this. She could save her son from the life that Jack and her parents had each in their own way saved her from. That was enough right now to keep her going, to put one foot in front of the other and to walk towards her son even if it meant walking through danger.

But she couldn't deny what she had had to do to get that map. She'd had to acknowledge what she had been and in some degree what she still was.

A Lost Girl.

The girl who she had been before she had been with Jack…the reason why she had clung so hard to her surname rather than taking her adopted fathers. The reasons why she had been so scared when she had been five, the dark bruises she had tried to hide and the shelters and the pain and the endless social workers that had pushed and pulled her apart too many times.

She didn't like to think of that girl. She had put that girl in a box at the back of her mind and had tried to pretend that she didn't exist.

On this island however there was no choice.

She stood up brushing mud from her jeans and the tears from her eyes. She didn't want to weep in the mud like Pan wanted her to do, she wanted to find her son.

And with the image of Henry's bright smile she turned and walked into the camp towards her family and away from her past.

* * *

When he woke up every bone in his body was aching like…well like he'd been dropped several feet after being shot. There was mud in his mouth, sand beneath his fingernail and his shirt smelled like it needed to be burned immediately but there was no time for that.

He forced himself to his feet wincing as his knee began a very strong protest to the action. He didn't have time for this, his family needed him. Henry needed him. Perhaps even Emma needed him.

And with that Neal Cassidy straightened up and started walking, very much alive.

* * *

 **And there you are, I hope you all enjoyed.**

 **Next Chapter-Tinkerbelle and Regina have it out, Pan reveals to Hook that Neal is still alive, Regina strikes out on her own leaving Emma to ask Jack a favour, all as David is left with a lifechanging decision to make. **


	25. Nothing Stays The Same

**Hi, here we are another chapter, i hope to have the next one published for you soon.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

 **And I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 25-Nothing Stays The Same.

Tinkerbelle and Regina have it out, Pan reveals to Hook that Neal is still alive, Regina strikes out on her own leaving Emma to ask Jack a favour, all as David is left with a life changing illness that will change everything.

* * *

What had happened between Regina and Tinkerbelle the other woman was still keeping close to the chest but Emma supposed that she was helping them which had to be a plus. Regina had given nothing for Emma to decipher other than the fact that they had a complicated history and that she 'did what she always did' and didn't Emma know what that meant. So naturally Regina offered to stay behind and therefore (naturally) Tinkerbelle kidnapped Regina and led them on a merry dance across the island to some sort of isolated little cave.

What had happened between the two of them in that cave was also a mystery because neither one of them were talking about it other than the barbed comment about belief and the fact that it was clear that Tinkerbelle was not going to help them unless she had a ready made escape route planned.

Emma wished she could say that, that was not sound advice but she had to admit that it was. One thing she had learned both as a foster child and as a bail bondsman was that you didn't break into somewhere without knowing just how you were going to break out. Common sense. Which meant they needed a way of this island and as Hook had left the island the last time with Pan's help they needed something new.

There was also the nagging feeling that they were wasting time. Emma did not take threats lightly and the fact of the matter was that now a serious threat had been made. Pan had said that it was only a matter of time before Henry had given up hope and became a Lost Boy. And despite her mother's promises that they would get to him before that a part of her didn't believe a word of it. She saw the added strain in the lines around Regina's mouth and knew she wasn't the only one wondering if what would happen if they got to Henry and Henry didn't want to leave.

The only good thing was that she now knew that Greg and Tamara were dead. That was one less thing she had to deal with. She suspected Gold if she was being honest but she didn't care. She should but she didn't. They had taken Neal from her, they had taken Henry from her…they had paid the price.

Her father David was also acting strange. There was something in the way he looked at her sometimes and he was being positively sweet to Jack which was something that had never happened before. They might have put their differences behind them but the way David was acting was just strange and out of character. Emma had come to the point in the road that was her life where she admitted that she could have two fathers. That Jack and David both played an integral role in her life but she was sure that something was wrong.

She wondered why her mother didn't see it and why she could.

How long had they even been on this island? What was it now days or weeks? She had asked only to be told by Hook that time moved differently and that he had been on this island nearly three hundred years and not aged a day which had not been the answer that Emma had wanted to hear.

So all in all they had achieved nothing.

Which did nothing to improve her mood.

And it was going to get worse of course.

* * *

Either Hook was trying to say something or he was in some sort of pain Jack thought. He, David and Hook had been walking towards some sort of plan that Hook had seemed to spring out of thin air that seemed to involve getting a good look at the island from a high vantage point. David was labouring harder than both of them which Jack thought was strange considering David was younger than he was. There was a humidity in the air but it had been worse by the fact that where they were going seemed to drag up more and more dry air. David pushed forwards steadfastly ignoring them both but Hook hung back a second reaching out to stop Jack with a touch on his arm.

"Listen I think you should head back" he said quietly. "There's something me and the Prince have to sort out. Besides if the women are serious about contacting Henry then there going to need a lookout. If Pan get's wind that the three of them are poking around the camp he'll move it to the very edge of the island or underground and we'll never find them."

"Regina's got a plan." Jack pointed out. "I trust her"

Hook gave him a very flat look that told Jack that this man was not the type to be played a fool.

"That's your own business mate. But I think you have to go back and make sure they don't kill each other. I've seen Regina in action, I've seen how she acts and how she responds when she's threatened. Snow White's not gonna like what she'll want to do to get a message to her son I'll tell you that much and Swan's gonna get caught in the middle and chances are we'll come back to the three of them rowing and that's exactly what Pan wants."

Jack was loath to admit that he had a point. There was something about walking through the dark forest alone that made him want to stay here. He wasn't used to being afraid like this, if he was being honest with himself he couldn't remember the last time he had felt like this.

"What's going on?" he asked finally.

Hook sighed. "He got caught with a dreamshade arrow and it's poisoning him. There's a chance for a cure that I know about problem is he wont take it. Seems to think even thinking about anything other than Henry is selfish. Course what he thinks is gonna happen to Swan and Snow White when he drops dead and they find out why I don't know but he wont think about that. Anyway if I can get him up there I can get him a cure but

There was an undercurrent of something in Hook's voice that he didn't like but it was far easier to believe the logic behind his words. Regina had her way of getting things done, Snow had another and Emma would be caught in the middle with her mother on one side and the chance to speak to her son on the other.

"You sure you can get him to do this?" he said eyeing David who was stomping back to them with a furious expression on his face.

"No. But if worse comes to worse then I'll knock him over the head and make him take it. He dies then we never get off this island and you and I both know there's no talking to him when he's like this"

"He does care about Henry" Jack said grudgingly. Hook nodded. "All well and good" he said "But his death doesn't help us get Henry, in fact it makes us one good fighter down and Pan will prey on that advantage as he preys on everything else"

And Jack couldn't disagree with that.

"Well" said a voice and they both turned to see David watching them. Upon looking at him—upon really looking at him Jack could see he didn't look well. Clearly he'd been hiding how much pain he was in, he was coated in sweat and his face was a rather pale colour that didn't sit well with him at all. Looking at him now up close Jack had to admit he was impressed with how well he had hid it the pain he was in.

"I'm gonna head back, give Emma, Regina and…Mary Margaret a hand"

He still was not comfortable with saying Snow White.

David looked as if he wanted to say something but the strength had gone from him and instead he sat down on the rock. Without giving too much away Jack patted him on the shoulder. "I'll take care of them" he said and he for once hoped that David could see what he was saying. Judging by the way the other man's face seemed to soften for a second Jack thought he did and then he was walking back down the path. Hook followed for a second and Jack reached out to touch his elbow forcing the other man to stop.

"Hit him over the head if he gets difficult. One way or another we need him"

Hook grinned.

* * *

When he got back to the clearing he knew that something had happened. Emma looked simply furious, Snow White even more so and Regina looked supremely smug as she waved over a Lost Boy imperiously. Jack knew he had just walked into something primed to explode.

"What did I miss?" he asked finally.

"Don't ask" came three replies and in three very different tones.

"I need you to give me some cover" Regina said in the same imperious tone. "When we see Henry, when we give him the message I need to make sure Pan's not looking over my shoulder"

Jack shot another look at the three of them and then decided to do the smartest thing and keep his mouth shut and continue to keep his gun trained on the trees that were not moving despite the fact that there seemed to be a breeze in the air.

He knew why Regina had asked him to keep watch on them while they spoke to Henry. He too couldn't help but shake the feeling that they were being watched. If not by Pan then by someone who was working for him.

The sooner they got of this island the better.

* * *

He hadn't meant to tell them.

Alright he had. That was a lie. Of course he was going to tell them. He had just wanted five seconds to enjoy the moment. He had saved the Prince (granted he couldn't leave the island but at least he wasn't dead) and he thought that perhaps he might have put the ghost of his brother—tauntingly real whenever he was on this island to rest. And after all, Swan was an attractive woman who had gotten under his skin faster than Milah had (and that was not something he was going to dwell upon now) and when she had kissed him he had felt…something…he had thought long buried.

Of course that was the moment that Pan had turned up to ruin it. Swan had not noticed nor had she overheard the bombshell that had been dropped on him.

Bae was alive.

Killian's first instinct was relief. He couldn't help it. He had known the boy and had never known the man and despite the fact that he was alive there was still the flicker of dread both for pure selfish reasons. He still could remember with perfect clarity that look that Bae had shot him when he had told him that he was the man responsible for Milah's death. He could still remember that feeling being ripped away from him—that hollow ache where he thought that perhaps he might have been able to be a…well…some sort of father and then he remembered the feel of Emma Swan's lips against his own.

He was going to tell her.

He just needed a moment.

The problem was he couldn't get one. When it had been him and Smee on this island Smee had known well enough to leave him alone. Of course that wouldn't happen this time. No longer had he sat down to stare menacingly into the bushes did someone come over.

And that was how he ended up telling the Prince, and then Jack.

What was surprising was both of them were in agreement that they shouldn't tell Emma.

"It distracts us from the mission" David said. Jack nodded. "Besides" he added with a look that Killian didn't understand but led him to believe that there was no love lost between the two of them. "Neal will survive. If he can survive this he can get out of whatever cage Pan has him. When we get Henry if he's there we can get him."

Killian opened his mouth to ask what would happen if he wasn't but before he could Snow White came over.

And that was how Swan found out.

And the Queen.

"Are you mad?" Regina asked when Emma made it clear that they should go looking for Neal. Killian thought it best to make a tactical retreat to the other side of the clearing but everyone else seemed to be watching with baited breath.

"Our priority is our son Emma not the son of Gold wherever he is. I'm not being distracted by this just so you can play happy families"

"Neal might know a way of the island"

"And he might not. How do you know Pan didn't let him escape to go and see if he could find the Heart of the Truest Believer or whatever nonsense those boys are calling Henry. I wont go on some wild goose chase with you Swan. I've already been camping for a week with you and getting nowhere"

"So what are you going to do? Go off on your own?" Swan replied a note of derision in her voice. "Regina we need to stick together"

"No we don't" Regina said back. "If you want to go looking for your long lost love Miss Swan go and do it. I will go and find rescue our son"

And with that she swept off into the woods her blue jacket disappearing into the thick coverlet of trees.

Swan turned to Jack.

"Go after her and make sure she doesn't get herself killed please? Henry would never forgive me for it"

Jack raised one eyebrow.

"You want me to leave you here alone?"

"I'm not alone. I have my parents, and…well…Hook…and once we get Neal we can get off this island but I think she's going to go looking for Gold and she'll probably get herself killed so can you please go after her. I'll be alright but if she dies Henry…"

"Will never forgive you, you said" Jack said. He looked around as if hoping to see a solution to the argument in front of him. Finding none he nodded eventually though he looked mutinous at the thought of them separating. Killian didn't blame him. He had to admit that he didn't like the idea of separating that much either. Far easier for Pan to attack them if they were separated.

Jack hugged Emma once and then went about speaking to David for a second. Killian looked away not wanting to overhear. The memories of Liam were back. Thinking about the family he had lost was too painful.

He hated this island.

* * *

Emma took a breath. She trusted Jack, he was perhaps the only person she would trust with Regina other than herself and if she was being honest with herself then she had to admit that the idea of splitting up didn't sit well with her—but she wanted…she wanted to save Neal.

And to save Neal she had to go in with a clear head.

"Ok" she said as she turned back around.

"Let's get Neal, get Henry and then get the hell of this island"

She could deal with all the other problems later.

Henry knew she was coming for him. She wasn't going to let him down.

* * *

 **And there you are. I hope you enjoyed this chapter-Already i am working on the next one.**

 **Next Chapter-Jack and Regina go in search of Gold and meet a mermaid along the way. Emma frees Neal and must deal with her complciated history. The group meet up to begin their final assualt on Pan's camp and Jack talks to Emma about the Lost Boys. **


	26. The Tell

**Hi, so here is another chapter, the authors note is gonna be a bit shorter as I have one more chapter following this and possibly another one. I am flying through these chapters as fast as I can and I hope you all enjoy them.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 26-The Tell

Jack and Regina go in search of Gold and meet a mermaid along the way. Emma frees Neal and must deal with her complicated history as well as the secrets that were shared in the Echo Cave, and after capturing the shadow, the group meets up to being their final assault on the camp. Jack meanwhile has an idea about the Lost Boys that might come in handy.

* * *

The crashing after her as she strode away told Regina that they had sent someone after her. She didn't even bother looking around. She knew who it was. Not through magic but through the common sense knowledge that she knew Emma Swan possessed—who else better to keep an eye on her than the one person on this camping trip from hell who she wouldn't immediately set on fire with a wave of her hand.

"Hey" Jack said his gun over his back and his expression as such that this might be a Saturday afternoon hiking in the forest. Regina gritted her teeth.

"I don't need a babysitter"

"Oh I know. It's just easier for me not to argue with Emma when she's in the mood she's in"

Regina's eyes widened and she practised a smile of sweetness and a tone to match—the kind she used whenever Snow White had been a child and had wanted to show her some shiny trinket that Daddy had gotten her.

"Really? I was under the impression she would be thrilled that her former lover was alive. I was actually under the impression that she was letting it distract her from the far more important mission which is naturally rescuing our son before he loses all hope and becomes a LOST BOY!"

She might have ended up shouting that last bit out loud so that a couple of birds escaped their trees in shock and took flight. Regina watched them go without pity even as the ground beneath her split when her magic forced it's way deep into the earth. Her whole being was magic, this whole island was magic, they were calling out to each other in a way that she didn't like. After all…she was trying very hard to make sure that she didn't succumb to her instincts. She took a deep breath forcing herself to get a grip on the situation at hand.

There was a pause where she stood there and took in what was happening and then she started walking. She supposed the company wasn't too bad. Besides it would do well to have something on her side other than magic—just in case Pan had any fairy dust, or pixie dust…or anything that could stand between her and her son.

"Forgive me Regina" Jack said as they carried on walking. "But if in a month or two you would like to tell me about your plan then that would be great—because I don't think storming the camp with just the two of us is going to be a good idea"

"Oh don't be ridiculous, of course I'm not going to storm the damn camp. I'm going to find someone who will help me. someone competent. If we do get Henry away from Pan were going to need to find something to do with him. Defeating him is a bit outside my scope, he's been around longer than I have. Of course for Gold it's a bit different."

"Ah I see. So you think Gold can destroy him?"

"I'm hoping for that. If not I'm hoping he has some idea of what we can do with him. It's going to take a lot of magic to even contain him, and then we've got the problem of getting of this island. I cannot do all of that alone. I need help. And if you ever tell anyone I said that then I will bury you here on this island and place all of the blame on Pan" it was an empty threat and Jack knew it but if felt good to get the bite back into her tone all the same.

They carried on for a while and then Regina tilted her head to the side as if she was listening to something on the wind.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Magic" Regina said simply. "Gold's magic, and something darker…he's here but he's not alone"

"How the—how can you tell all that just by tilting your head to the side?"

"Magic has like a tell…a sign if you will, a certain style. Everyone's is different. Emma because she's new to the whole practice and disinterested at best with it is so weak it's like spitting rain on a humid day. Rumple being at the end of the spectrum is like walking through a thick rain for weeks upon a time. I know my teacher, I know his style, he's here and so is Pan but I cannot sense in what capacity."

And with that she strode into the clearing following her magical instincts and leaving Jack gaping after her rushing to follow her.

What she saw however was not Pan.

It was Belle.

Regina stared at her for a second, Belle in her little white dress and blue pinafore and her hair pulled back in loose curls and completely unlike the Belle that she had known in Storybrooke who wore high heels and make up and a spritz of something musk like. For a second Regina didn't understand because she was sure that they had left Belle behind in Storybrooke. Of course there was always the view that Rumple had finally gone mad (again) and had taken to hallucinations but then why was she seeing them?

"Do you see her" she said pointing to Belle. Jack nodded. "Yeah she's Gold's girlfriend, only met her the once, told me she was a kept woman—not entirely sure she got what that meant but—she seemed nice enough" he said shrugging.

Regina stared at him and then back trying to piece together what she was seeing. It seemed real but…

And then she got it.

Without so much as a hesitation she reached out in front of her and twisted her hand as if she was wrapping it around someone's throat. It had the desired effect. The thing that was Belle but wasn't Belle started choking and Regina noticed when she stepped out of the bushes and into view with Jack right behind her, that Rumple was looking at her with horror…still he had not made the connection.

Oh, when this was all over she was never going to let him forget it.

Teach him to lecture her about magic constricting with her emotions again.

* * *

Jack was watching the two of them argue like teenagers. Had the situation not been serious it would have been quite amusing to see them like this. He was sat down on a rock cleaning out his gun. They'd been like this for what must have been ten minutes he doubted they'd have even noticed him.

"I've known you for a long time…I know all about your survival instincts"

"Yeah well they've just kicked in"

"Good, because were gonna need them"

"Regina's got a plan" Jack said jumping in between the conversation. He was almost amused to see the two of them look at him in surprise as if they had forgotten that he was here.

"We need something to contain Pan in. Once we do that, we can get Henry out"

Gold stared at him for a long second and then jerked his head as if he'd had a thought.

"I might have something, of course it's in my shop"

"Well why didn't you bring it with you!" Regina snapped.

"Because I came here to die, and to kill Pan in the process"

"So we have no way of getting this thing here…there's no way of traveling between this island and Storybrooke?"

There was a pause as the two of them stared at him. The two (as Regina had put it) most power practitioners of magic to have ever lived didn't seem to understand what he the mere mortal was saying. Had the situation not been as severe as it was he would have laughed.

There was another long pause before Regina snapped her fingers.

"Actually there might be a way. Of course there might be some grovelling attached…but such is the way of life."

"If in a month or two you want to tell us exactly what your thinking you will do so wont you?" Gold growled. Regina ignored him.

"Pan's going to have most of the Lost Boys as well as his magic focusing on the island itself, watching if we try and leave. Of course some creatures can leave. The ones that Pan doesn't dare try to control because they would send all his armies to the bottom of the sea"

"Mermaids" Gold said finally his eyes lighting up. "Do you have one in mind?"

"I've got one that will do something for me if I repay her yes. Could cost me a bit…but if it gets the message across then…"

"Who?" Jack asked.

"A mermaid by the name of Ariel"

There was a pause as Jack took that in and then suddenly he couldn't help but laugh. Of course, of course…

"Ok" he said in between what he thought might be slightly hysterical laughter. "Ok, let's go and find the Little Mermaid"

* * *

Emma calculated the time in her head. It had been she thought perhaps a week since she had been in Storybrooke and had been with her son, eight days since she had thought Neal had died, a day and a half since she had kissed Hook, and six hours since she had learnt that Neal was alive and all those other little secrets as well.

These contained the secret that her mother wanted another child, her father (David) now couldn't leave the island, Hook was developing feelings for and her own private secret that she wished Neal was dead because loving him (which in her own way she had never stopped doing) was too painful to continue.

And now to cap matters off she had to somehow find Jack and Regina who were doing God only knows what. She had sent Jack after her because she trusted him with Regina but she couldn't help but worry about him—it seemed she didn't entirely trust Regina. Well, she wondered if there would ever be a day where she entirely trusted Regina.

The only shining light in the darkness was that they now had a way of this island. Pan's shadow was trapped in the coconut shells and tapped down in her bag. If Regina could harness the magic then Hook's ship could get them out of there. The actual ins and outs of it Emma had yet to understand as well as her own powers but she didn't want to dwell on what had happened in that cave. She didn't want to dwell on the markings on the wall or the fact that she know had two men panting over her when she hadn't even wanted one.

She just wanted her son back.

And she didn't want to think of the two men sending her looks across the campfire while her parents went in search of Tinkerbelle to see if she was serious about upholding her end of the bargain.

 _Hold on Henry_ she thought desperately. _Please hold on just a little while longer. Were coming for you._

* * *

Jack had seen enough jungle growth to last him a lifetime. And that was saying something as there had been a period in his life where he'd have taken jungle over sand without a second's hesitation. He paused wincing as he felt another tree smack into his knee. When this was over he needed both a shower and a strong drink.

Regina was walking ahead with a grim smile. Jack knew she had been weary of trusting Ariel despite the fact that Gold believed that Belle would help. But now they had Pandora's Box (and the irony of that was again nearly too much to contend with) and they were making good progress. Well as good a progress as he thought they were doing considering that Jack was the only one who seemed to have no clue as to where they were going.

Apparently the two of them were honing in on Emma's magic and Jack was just following them because really…what good was his mortal form of tracking on a magical island?

They crashed through some bushes and then there they were. All of them. Emma, Hook, the Charming's, Tinkerbelle and…oh good they'd rescued Neal. Wasn't that…nice…

Ok if he was being honest with himself then Jack didn't want the man to die (if he was being really, really honest with himself) Henry did deserve a father that cared for him—and Neal cared he had to admit that.

And then Neal started speaking.

"What are you doing with him?" he shouted practically dancing up and down on the spot once he had told them of the prophecy and Jack was still stuck in the middle of no man's land.

"Oh get a grip" he snapped at the man. He turned to Gold. "Give me the box to lock Pan in"

Gold stared at him, Jack put on what he hoped was his best officer's face.

"Give me the damn box or Regina is going to burn you alive" he muttered.

Gold gave him another indecipherable look and then handed over the box.

"Alright" Jack said gritting his teeth. "I have the box that can trap either Pan or Henry in and I think we both know now which one is likely to go in there don't you?, whether or not you like it we need him to get through the front door. Because he knows Pan…and I don't want to know how…I want to rescue my grandson and save the boys that can still be saved. So you…"

He pointed at Neal. "Are going to carry on before I give into my basic instincts and bury you in that cave"

Neal stared at him for a second and then nodded as everyone moved on. Jack put the box in his back pocket.

"Look" he said as Neal moved past him. "He was gutted when he thought you were dead. You wanna be in Henry's life then start thinking like a Dad…we make mistakes…but we always care" he carefully didn't look for the mass of blonde hair that was being helped over a rather large boulder by Hook who was looking rather smug…

 _One problem at a time Reynolds_

"Hey" Neal said to him. "Do you think we could ever have…I don't know…some form of a relationship"

Jack snorted. "Build a time machine and then we will see"

Neal nodded. "I do regret it you know. All of it"

Jack acknowledged it for what it was. "I suppose you do" he said critically. "But forgiveness isn't easy for me. Your could be a great father, I'll give you that. She was the only thing in the world that gave a damn about me and you hurt her. So don't be surprised if I end up routing for the other guy"

And with that he stalked off into the forest refusing to look back and see weather or not Neal had decided to follow him.

He caught up with Emma.

"Kiddo" he said slinging an arm around her waist and pulling her into a hug. "Look just…take care…"

There was a pause…then Emma spoke.

"Dad…Jack…Dad…don't…look, just…don't do anything stupid please?"

Jack nodded, he wasn't sure just how much of that promise he could keep but he knew that he loved Emma enough to try and promise something that he knew he couldn't.

"Don't worry Emma…we'll get him back."

And with that they both let go of the other and Emma went to her other parents and Jack followed catching Regina's eye for a second as they plunged through the undergrowth towards the camp where they knew Henry was being kept.

* * *

 **And there you are next chapter should be the last of the Neverland arc and will follow this one. I hope you like it.**

 **Next Chapter-** **The gang storm the camp and come across a surprise they didn't expect. Jack, Snow and David come up with a plan to deal with the Lost Boys, eventually they get on the boat however and they all have a chance to regroup unaware that another nightmare is on the horizon.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter.**


	27. Until Your Feet Leave The Ground

**And here is the second chapter I promised you. There might be a third update as well coming soon after this.**

 **Please read and review and let me know what you think.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine just this chapter.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 27-Unitl Your Feet Leave The Ground

The gang storm the camp and come across a surprise they didn't expect. Jack, Snow and David come up with a plan to deal with the Lost Boys, eventually they get on the boat however and they all have a chance to regroup unaware that another nightmare is on the horizon.

* * *

Henry wasn't in the camp.

Pan wasn't in the camp.

The only person who was in the camp was a teenage girl with blonde hair in loose curls and wearing a dirty nightdress that looked as if it had been popular in the 1800s. For a moment Emma's brain didn't make the connection but then it did. Peter Pan…Captain Hook…and a girl in a blue nightgown with ribbons.

She knew who it was before Neal even opened his mouth and cried…

"Wendy!"

She didn't even look around to see Jack roll his eyes. Somehow she could feel it.

Once Wendy had, had something to drink, had been wrapped in a blanket and praised for surviving her ordeal, Emma felt like she could pose her question. It wasn't that she wasn't sympathetic to what Wendy had been through it was just she had a feeling that every second they were here they were running out of time. The Lost Boys were somewhere all over the island and there was very little time to round them all up which she knew was something that Jack very much wanted to do. She also knew that Henry was with Pan and his plan was coming to fruition.

And as Wendy explained she found that she was steadily growing colder and colder.

"Pan's dying"

She was hyper aware of Gold's surprised look behind her back. There was something there she was sure of it. Something throbbing under that wound and Emma was sure as hell not going to go near it unless she had to. If Neal was serious about being a father to Henry then he was going to have to deal with his father and play nice. Emma didn't have time to clean up that mess.

She pulled herself back to the present to listen to Wendy.

"Well it's a trade. Once Pan has Henry's heart he will be immortal, all powerful and Henry will die"

There was a long pause as everyone digested that news.

There was sudden movement at her elbow and she saw Gold out of the corner of her eye bend down a little to whisper in her ear.

"If he becomes all powerful then he will be able to get off this island and he'll come for you even if we do escape. Then he'll go for all the other lands he can find taking whatever he wants and enslaving whatever he wants. You think I was bad? This is worse dearie. We have to stop him and the less scruples we have the better"

Emma agreed.

"Well" Jack said finally his hands still wrapped around his gun that he was reloading. "What's the plan Em?"

Emma took a deep breath thinking.

"Hook, Tink get back to the ship and take that damn shadow with you and get ready. Mom, Dad, Dad" she said calling Jack by the moniker that she used only when she wanted too (not that it made any difference to Jack weather she used it or not—they had both understood each other a long time ago to get hung up over the differences that came with a name) "Go and find the Lost Boys and make sure that they know that it they want to escape for the first time in their lives there's a way of this island. Regina, I and Neal will go and get Henry"

"Your need me" Gold said before the words had even left her mouth fully. "Your going to need me Emma, trust me on that if nothing else"

And Emma was desperate enough to try. Henry was more important than pride. She caught Regina's eye and the other woman nodded once. It was clear then she thought. They needed Gold.

She nodded.

* * *

Jack was just putting his gun back in it's holster when Regina came over.

"I'll see you when we get back to the ship" she said finally.

Jack grinned at her and then before he could stop himself he ducked his head and kissed her gently. He wasn't sure that anyone had noticed thank god. There was a time and a place to do this right after all. Regina smiled at him all soft and delicate like he knew she could be from time to time and then she and the moment were gone.

"Stay safe" he said hugging Emma she curled both her arms around him as if she didn't want to let go. Jack was suddenly painfully aware of the girl that Emma had been when she had been taken to live with him, how scared she had looked and how she had watched him like one would watch a grenade with the pin about to be taken out.

"We will get him back Em" he said because he was sure of this. "One way or the other we will get him back"

Even Jack didn't want to try and imagine the consequences if they didn't.

Emma shot him a look and a small smile and then she was gone through the trees and he was going through another set of trees in order to find the boys that were running around with poisoned sticks and offer them a chance to come back to a town where they didn't have to be soldiers anymore.

This he knew from his own bitterly personal experience was not going to be easy—and even if they did get them all on the boat and back home living with what they had done was going to have some serious kind of kickback for them. Jack didn't want to think about, coming home, coming back to normality had been bad enough for him and he had been a grown man.

He didn't envy the kids when they came to the conclusion that they didn't have to steel or fight or run or take the orders of Peter Pan again.

* * *

His wife and Jack were bent over some sort of track in the mud muttering together. There was a pause where he stood there and then he spoke. Tracking had never been David's forte. He had been more about the whole horseback riding into battle thing than actually following what they were tracking.

Snow stood up and pointed.

"The Lost Boys went that way" she said pointing west. "There are tracks moving that look like footprints and the bushes are all flattened. They were running"

David looked at them. She had a point.

"How many?" he asked

"About ten or so I'd say, maybe more" Jack said finally. "They've tried to be careful about where they've been going but there kids…there making mistakes."

"Or there doing it deliberately."

Both of them turned to him. David ploughed on with his theory nonetheless. As he spoke he became more and more aware that his theory made sense rather than the fact that he was shouting out the first thoughts that came into his head.

"What if they want to get caught? What if they want us to find them? What if they want to escape?"

"Or there laying a trap" Jack said looking around. "These kids, they might not be doubling back to check their tracks. There might be a chance your right David but they could be setting a trap. I think what we have to do is isolate them from Felix"

David nodded. Felix was the main ringleader and Pan's right hand man. There was a very good chance that he was not going to be with his master. Felix was not the kind to inspire Henry to hand over his heart.

"He's got to be what sixteen? Surely we don't have to hurt him?"

That was Snow. David didn't look at Jack. He suspected that they would have to either leave Felix behind or stop him.

"Size aint a guarantee of power you know" Jack said as they carried on through the undergrowth and down another long steep track that might have once resembled a stone staircase. "Emma could throw a pretty good punch at the age of thirteen. Amount of times I would get calls from her school about her lashing out…" He shook his head.

There was a very pregnant pause as David imagined that image and Jack remembered it seemed who he was talking about and to whom. They stood there and then Jack gestured his head towards the stone they were walking down.

"Look" David said casting around for a subject to change too. "What's the plan…to convince them to come along?"

"Most of them are gonna want some sort of family connection I bet." Jack said looking at Snow. "That's where you come in. David if you can deal with Felix then I might be able to get to the rest of them. Powers important here. If I can switch the power from Pan to me then I might be able to get them on the boat using orders but…Archie's gonna have a field day when he gets them into weekly therapy"

He checked his watch, David did the same.

"Come on" he said finally. "We need to do this so we can get back to the ship. Emma will succeed. But we don't need to be anywhere other than on that deck when we do"

And with that the three of them continued to follow the tracks down the rocky path until they could hear Felix's tone bellowing around and the sound of what David was pretty sure were whimpers and muttering of children broken under the whim of a master.

* * *

She felt slightly sick still. Regina was not a natural sailor and nor was she a natural at losing. Thank God she had won this one. She had saved her son who was downstairs below. Everyone was on the ship, the Lost Boys were on the deck huddled together as Tinkerbelle kept a watchful eye over them. All of them (or near enough of them she supposed) were safe—Felix was sat a distance away staring at the black sea with a fathomless expression.

Emma was with her parents, Hook was steering his ship so that they were in perfect place to release the shadow and her old teacher was with his son. Henry was wrapped up in blankets downstairs, Pan safely locked away and a part of Regina thought that she should be down their watching her son simply sleep. The simple things had been what she had missed the most. But she couldn't. The sea air was fresh on her face and she needed that after the humidity of the island. She also needed time for her magic to re-centre. That island had made her go through the emotions like they were ice cream flavours and when your magic was tied into your emotions…there was kickback that came with that.

The last time she had felt this out of sorts was when…when she had adopted Henry and the cursed world she had created had clashed with the outside one.

Jack was stood by the prow of the ship looking out at the island they had just vacated. Regina had no idea how long it had been but she knew that she must look a fright. Travelling through the undergrowth with Emma Swan and then the added addition of Snow White did that too you. Actually now she was thinking about it she couldn't believe that she had made it through the whole ordeal without committing murder—Pan decidedly did not count.

And yet she had meant everything she had said. She had cursed worlds and brought royalty to their knees, she had fought for her revenge her entire life and had caused unimaginable misery on people and yet she'd had no regrets—because she'd had Henry.

And she knew that Emma felt the same. After all she'd let Regina rip that boy's heart out hadn't she?

Actually come to think of it she should probably give the kid his heart back.

"Yah think?" said a voice to her left and she turned to see Jack watching her.

"Did I say that last bit out loud?"

"Yeah…you wanna talk about what happened out there or?"

"No. I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it ever again. Right now I just want to acknowledge the fact that I'm on my way home. Of course I have to perform some great magic to do that but…when Hook gives me the word I'll do it. And then we should be back in Storybrooke at the end of the night providing all goes well"

And she was rambling good god.

"Go and talk to Emma" she snapped.

"I would but I'll just end up punching Neal"

Regina turned. Emma was in a conversation with Neal.

"Still don't like him" she said flatly.

"Regina he could have saved Henry himself with no help and I still wouldn't like him. Maybe it's petty and hell maybe he's grown up but I had to pick up the pieces for a long time from what he had done. It wasn't just Henry you know. He broke her and he'll do it again, he's got his father's survival instincts and he'll use them time and time again."

"He might change"

"He might. I might even come to like him—I doubt it but I'm standing on Captain Hook's boat in Neverland after just fighting Peter Pan so it's safe to say that stranger things have happened. After all I never thought I'd have a civil and possibly warm conversation with the Charming's but…" he shrugged.

"Hey" he said finally into the silence. "After this do you wanna grab dinner—like real dinner."

Regina blinked. She had not been expecting that. But…but…oh…oh what the hell.

"Alright" she said refusing to smile.

"Err your Maj, were ready for you"

Damn pirates interrupting moments.

* * *

"Hey" came a voice to her left. "You did it relax"

Emma turned to see Jack smiling at her. The shadow was still looming over them like a green jack-o-lantern. It light up the sky and Regina was confidently steering it to where Hook needed her to go. She watched for a second and then smiled.

"Yeah I know I did. Just want a hot bath and a good night's sleep"

"Yeah could do with that myself. With a stiff drink and the biggest cheeseburger I can find."

Emma laughed she couldn't help herself. Jack had not changed much throughout this whole ordeal and she clung to it. Somethings were just familiar.

"You know it doesn't change anything you know…me calling them Mom and Dad…it's just…it feels right in a way. Doesn't mean I don't love you. It's just…I have room now for two Dads"

"I do get it. In a way."

Emma opened her mouth to tell him about Neal staying to fight for her and then closed it. It was a good moment there was no need to ruin it now.

But as she still stared at the green thing in the sky she found that she couldn't shake off the idea that something worse was coming—that Pan had been defeated too easily. She couldn't help it.

What was it about that boy that made her think that there was something worse coming even as they crossed the horizon leaving this world and returning to their own.

* * *

 **And there it is, a bit more dialogue than action but I hope you all enjoy it. I will try and update sooner rather than later.**

 **Next Chapter-Pan plays his final stance, Gold makes a choice. Hook and Jack find themselves on the same side and a decision is made that rips apart all that has been built and then brings everything back together. **


	28. A Hell Of A Ride

**Hi, so here is another chapter. There is one more following this perhaps two and this is the end of the Neverland Arc. Some of the events of the Zelena arc will be omitted because anything from Jack's point of view wont include magic. There are four more chapters left of this story so I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine just Jack**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 28-A Hell Of A Ride

Pan plays his final card in the game, Gold makes a choice. Hook and Jack are on the same side though it's only for a brief moment of time and a decision is made that rips apart all that has been built and then with the same cruelty brings everyone back together again.

* * *

It was a novel thing to be home. Jack could remember the first time he'd come home and he remembered that feeling that came when you didn't know what you were going to do with yourself. He took a very long shower and went to Granny's and smiled with the rest of them but he couldn't help but want his own bed and some peace and quiet. It wasn't even like Reggie was there anymore. The dog had always been a steady quiet presence and a good excuse for bailing out of social occasions early but now…now…now he had to do it on his own bases.

He took a beer and then he stood there listening to the stories and accepting the congratulations and the pats on the back and the thank you's that came from once again saving the town from a threat. The only thing that he really did register from the whole night was the fact that Henry asked to spend the night with Regina rather than Emma.

Jack was on his fourth scotch (and not really pacing himself whatsoever) when he overheard that. The hurt on Emma's face lasted a second but Jack didn't need to go to her because before he could even so much as raise an eyebrow her mother was there. He couldn't deny now the presence of those too in Emma's lives anymore than she could deny Regina a place in Henry's. He looked down at his glass of scotch and thought that perhaps it was time for him to make a graceful exit from all things. He'd rather bow out now than have Emma come to him and tell him she didn't need him anymore.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. God what wrong with him? Self pity was not his style it never had been and yet here he was sat there wondering weather or not he had any fight left in him.

"You alright mate?"

The Pirate sat down a bottle of rum in his one hand a glass hanging off his hook. He downed two fingers without flinching and then poured himself another one. Jack paused to admire the way it slid down his throat like it was water and then turned back to his own drink.

"No" he said finally.

"No I'm not. I don't do well when it comes to socialising."

There was a pause where he snorted into his scotch. Hook looked at him like he was afraid that Jack was losing his mind.

"Are you going to stick around? Now that it's all over…I mean…your not going to be able to grab a dagger and ram it into Gold's chest again. Might have to reconcile yourself to that dream dying"

Hook shrugged taking another swallow. "In all honesty I haven't thought about it that much. I suppose I'll have to find another way to get to him. As soon as the boy wants him gone then Emma will want him gone and then I can get him gone…"

Jack snorted, "You never give up do you"

It wasn't a question and Hook to his credit didn't run away from the challenge that was being presented in front of him.

"No" he said finally. "No I suppose I do not. Are we still talking about Gold?"

"You have blood on your hands and a history with women that would make any father worry and don't think there aren't aspects with you that I am concerned about, but at the end of the day I don't give out many second chances—I cleaned up after Neal, I saw the pain and the scars and the battering she took. And she's on fine form right now."

"Aye that she is"

Oh did he have to look Emma up and down while he said that? Seriously? He was right there for crying out loud!

"Hey" he said, Hook turned to look at him, "These are very limited circumstances in which you and I are on the same side—don't blow it"

"Don't blow what?" said a voice behind them. Jack turned to see Emma staring at him her eyes wide, he shook his head feeling very much like he was underwater. He had not been sleeping well on that damn island whatsoever. Actually he hadn't been sleeping much at all. He'd had the better training though after it being dormant for nearly thirty years it was harder and harder to get back into it. To be honest he didn't know if he could do it again.

"Nothing" he said finally forcing a smile from somewhere thought it felt like it was a grimace and that it was hurting rather than achieving something…anything.

Emma shot him a look that told him plainly enough that she didn't buy it.

"Henry ok?"

"Yeah he wants to spend the night with Regina"

"I heard. Don't look like that Emma…after all the kid's been through he probably wants to be in the strongest house he can find with the strongest magic wielding person he can find. Come tomorrow we'll lock Pan away in Regina's fault and Henry can take the summer and then it should be all ok."

Emma nodded but didn't look entirely convinced. Jack didn't know what to tell her. The fact of the matter was what she was feeling was the lack of panicked adrenaline that she had been running on for so long. There was a moment where she stared at her son and Jack followed her expression. There was something in that expression that he couldn't pin point, something that was decidedly not Henry but before he could stare it was gone and Henry just looked like the tired and exhausted kid that he was.

Jack chalked it down to the exhaustion that was pulling at his bones.

It was the first time he had ignored his instincts in a long time.

It would also be the last.

* * *

He slept for most of the day. A combination of exhaustion that was pulling at his bones for a long time forced him to fall into bed even before he'd had his shower. By the time he had woken up and took a very long time getting himself clean not to mention making himself something to eat he had found his phone from where he had plugged it in.

Jack raised an eyebrow. He was not used to so many messages on his phone at once and more to the point they seemed to be coming from many different people. Since when did Emma, Regina and the Charming's call him in such a frequency? He looked out the window at the sky where dawn was slowly coming and reached for Emma's number—if she was asleep it wasn't his problem, she knew where she lived after all.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Emma shouted. Jack actually pulled his phone away from his ear and then pulled it back in surprise. There was something in Emma's tone that he didn't like but he wasn't sure what he could do with it. Already his heart was hammering at the thought that something else had gone wrong and there was another fight that he had to go and help out. He honestly thought that for the first time in his life he was getting too old for this.

"It's Pan. You need to come now" Emma said finally her teeth gritted against something. It wasn't pain—Jack knew what Emma sounded like when she was in pain—it was fury.

"Where?" he said reaching for his keys.

"Main Street. An hour"

* * *

She knew she looked like a wreck. It had been a long night and an even longer day and she was deeply aware that there was dirt all over her and she was running on coffee fumes and scotch and her instincts which had been ignored again by her parents. The last time they had convinced her that she was imagining things Tamara had ran off with Henry and this whole nightmare had started. Once again they had convinced her she was imagining things—made her doubt herself and now there was something coming that couldn't be stopped and she and her son were once again going to have to pay the price.

She felt like screaming, like falling to the ground like Belle had done when she had found out that Gold's plan to get rid of his father had also meant getting rid of himself as well. Jack had Belle by the arm from where he had picked her up from the floor. She was still rocking backwards and forwards a little and Emma would have felt sympathy but the fact of the matter was that she was still facing another separation from her family or another separation from her son.

"There is something" Regina said in response to Jack asking what they could do even as the purple storm clouds grew bigger and bigger behind them. Her eyes were fixed on Henry and her expression was something that Emma wouldn't have wanted to see on her worst enemy. And there was a time when that had been Regina. She knew she wasn't going to like this idea that Regina had and yet she knew that she was going to see it through to the very bitter end regardless of the pain that it was going to cause her.

But she would be damned if she lost Henry again.

* * *

The parting with the people of Storybrooke was slightly more painful than he had imagined. They were stood at the edge of the town line all of them. They were fleeing, him, Henry, Emma they were running as the rest of the family (so to speak) were going back to their forest without (as Leroy had told him—WiFi and of course,) the three of them.

Emma was with the Charming's. Henry was with his father. Jack watched as Regina watched her son and then before he could stop himself he crossed the small space between them and kissed her.

It wasn't the gentle kiss that he'd given her on the Jolly Roger, this was a kiss that ate at the feelings that he had buried beneath for so long. He pulled away and he noticed that her eyes were bright though weather or not it was because of him or because of her son he didn't know…nor did he care.

"Hey" he said brushing back a bit of hair. "Whatever happens…if we see each other again or if we don't…whatever happens I just want you to know—it's been one hell of a ride with you Regina"

It was about as close as he could get to telling her about his feelings, feelings for her that were difficult to put into words because he was still scared of showing affection and she was an complicated woman. There was a pause between the two of them and then Regina smiled her eyes suddenly shining even as the purple smoke advanced on them to the level so that he could see it out of the corner of his eye.

"Jack" she said quietly. Jack pulled her close and then ducked a kiss into the dark hair. He pulled back and turned away. She needed to say goodbye to her son and he needed to get a grip. In a minute or so Regina would be a distant memory.

He wondered if she would ever remember him—if he'd had enough of an impact on her life in which he could be remembered. The Evil Queen and the Marine.

He nodded at the Charming's who nodded back. There was no need for words between them. He nodded at Neal too because he acknowledged that the man was giving up his son. After all—he had been with them when they had been on that island.

(Jack was still not sorry to lose the memory of him)

Emma got in the car. Henry wasn't even looking at him, he was looking at the woman who had been his mother—his only mother for the first ten years off his life. Emma closed her eyes for a second as if she needed the strength to do what was necessary. Jack touched her arm.

"It's been a hell of a ride" he said finally. Emma nodded.

The smoke was now at their car bumper. Emma put her foot down and drove them over the line.

And Jack didn't remember anything of Storybrooke, or Regina Mills after that.

* * *

 **There you are, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the one that follows.**

 **Next Chapter-** **A year has passed before Emma is sucked back into the mess, she thought she'd leave behind at the border. Hook has feelings, a new trouble is brewing, Regina gets the shock of her life and Jack wonders (not for the first time) what it is about Storybrooke that sets his teeth on edge.**


	29. Things Come To An End

**Hi, so here is another chapter coming off the back of the previous chapter. There are four more chapters left of this story and there might be another update coming off this one as well. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. As I said in the previous chapter some of the events of Zelena's rule might be omitted. I hope you all enjoy this chapter anyway. I know certain things in this chapter are different but that's because of the fake memories that Emma, Jack and Henry all have.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine just this chapter and Jack.**

 **Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 29-Things Come To An End.

A year has passed before Emma is sucked back into the mess, she thought she'd leave behind at the border. Hook has feelings, a new trouble is brewing, Regina gets the shock of her life and Jack wonders (not for the first time) what it is about Storybrooke that sets his teeth on edge.

* * *

Emma Swan-Reynolds woke up on the Tuesday that the story starts again to the sound of her alarm clock. The skyline outside New York had gone grey but there was a wind that was strong and the sun was peaking through. It was a normal Tuesday that she mercifully had off work and Henry had a late morning too.

Her Dad was already up when she opened the door to the kitchen. Her Dad did early mornings like some people did wine with dinner. It had been no hardship convincing her Dad to move out with her when her and Henry's apartment had gone up in flames in Boston. The company she worked for had allowed her to transfer and her Dad had gone with her occasionally corresponding with companies that looked for outside security. He was already frying bacon and eggs and Henry was already making the cocoa. It was a normal day.

When Jack had adopted her all those years ago there had been no pressure on taking his name and she had spent most of her teenage years going by the name that that kid at the fire at the homeless shelter had told her. She clung to the identity for a long time. After Neal…well things had been different, Jack had offered a choice and she had took it. With Henry came another name. She had a family now…and that was all that mattered.

"Morning kid" her Dad said from where he was reading the paper. Henry grinned from where he was reading his book. Emma chinked the cocoa mugs as well as Jack's dark coffee concoction that he claimed had kept him alive during his tours and then turned to her eggs and bacon. She was starving. Walsh was supposed to be taking her out for dinner at some point during the week but as she told Henry it was just fun.

She had told Jack that Walsh had offered to move in and that he had discussed settling down. Jack didn't like Walsh too much—Emma didn't know what to make of that but she supposed Jack still felt the repercussions of Neal even twelve years on. Walsh was the first man in a long time that she had brought home. That had been a long time now she came to think about it.

There was a knock at the door.

"You expecting anyone?" Emma asked Jack in surprise. He looked over the top of his IPad.

"Yeah cause I have hoards and hoards of women knocking on the door at this time in the morning don't I?"

Emma threw him a look and an eyeroll as Henry giggled promptly scoffing another mouthful of eggs.

She opened the door.

The man standing there was so good looking he could have come out of an underwear catalogue. Emma had a second to apricate that before he kissed her. She reacted instantly with a knee in the balls and then shut the door in his face. Didn't she have a doorman that prevented people like that from coming up the damn stairs?

"Problem" Jack said looking at her again with those eyes that had always seemed to read her that well.

"No" Emma said turning back to her breakfast and trying to desperately pretend that nothing had happened.

Little did she know but that was the end of her good morning, and the end of the life that she had always believed was real.

* * *

Swan sat down looking like the wind had gone out of her sails. Killian didn't blame her—having your boyfriend turn into a monkey in the middle of a non-magical city after you rejected him was hard for anyone to take. Especially when you just found out that the life you'd been living was a lie.

He could understand.

Well…he could almost understand.

Eventually Swan spoke.

"What happened?"

He filled her in on what he knew which admittedly was not much. He knew enough if not more than what she did. Which was that a year had gone since he had seen her, that a new curse was in place that she needed to help break and her mother had sent a bird to him with a potion that would restore her memory. He also knew little things as well that he didn't want to comment on—he knew that her hair was a shade or two lighter than when he had seen her last and that it was cut a little bit shorter. He knew that her eyeliner was now flicking upwards which was a change, he knew that she looked more confident and more self assured than the last time he had seen her and knew that the burden of not being the saviour of Storybrooke looked good on her.

He also knew his own feeling.

In hindsight it was a good thing that he didn't say those out loud.

Emma sighed.

"So what do you suppose I do now? Take my father and my son and go back to Storybrooke and go through that whole year where my parents and Jack were at each other's throats? Where Henry doesn't remember Regina? He was better off here; he had a life here—what am I saying he does have a life here we all do. The whole point of this was not to get sucked back into this crap!"

She threw her hands up. Killian thought she'd never looked more beautiful and then reminded himself that this was a crisis here and not a time for his feelings to bubble to the surface.

"If whoever it is took the opportunity to send a monkey here then they know about Henry and he knows about Jack, perhaps the best thing is if you take them with you"

There was a pause.

"Great." Emma said. Killian thought that she didn't sound impressed by the plan but still he supposed it could be worse. At least she hadn't made the connection that she had been sleeping with a monkey for the last—who knows how many months—at some point she was going to realise that and it made him want to _not_ be in the same room as her when she did.

* * *

"I broke up with Walsh" Emma said when she came in. She threw her boots to the floor in an uncharacteristic snarl of anger that Jack had not seen since she had been in High School. There was a pause in which he looked at her—something was different he decided but he didn't want to ask. A lifetime of experience with his daughter had told him that prodding her when she was angry didn't help matters for her or for him.

"Ah"

"I did it. Not him…and I got an offer for a case."

"I see. Queens again?"

"No. Maine actually"

That did have Jack looking up.

"Maine?" he said in disbelief. "You want to go to Maine?"

"I know it's a lot. I do but Dad…this case…it's big for me per…professionally. I want to help out and this might be the only way I can. It's only a lead chasing—it shouldn't take that long"

Jack didn't believe that for a second but he knew that his disbelief wasn't the worst of the matter something was bugging her.

"It doesn't matter if you want to go to Maine. Henry takes the subway to school anyway and I'm here…and you know we can all do with a break from your cooking"

Emma shot him a look but giggled despite herself. "Thanks. But…err…I was thinking you and Henry could come with me."

Jack blinked.

"Ok" he said grabbing the wine off the table and pouring two generous glasses.

"What the hell is going on Em?"

And then the idea came to him.

"Does it have anything to do with the He-Who-You-Know-I-Don't-Like-Naming?"

"No…it's got nothing to do with Neal"

"So…"

"It's a big case Dad. And it involves some dangerous people. I'd feel better if the two of you were with me. It's not that I don't trust you to not look after Henry or to protect him but…I just want to know that you're here…because Storybrooke—this town that we are in could do with some consulting work as well."

"Who are the people?"

"I don't know yet but my connection—Killian…he says that they are dangerous. Dangerous enough to come looking once they know I'm on the case. They need me to check on some mark and keep an eye on her…hopefully that's it—other people will do the main work, all I got to do is find the witness and keep an eye on them"

Jack got the feeling there was more to this story as even he could see the wholes in them but she looked so tired and so beaten down that he couldn't help but hold out his arms. Emma went into them like she was five and he hugged her.

"I'll let Henry know in the morning. A couple of weeks off school will be a good thing. And I suppose a small town in Maine's gonna need a lot of consulting for security. You tell me what's going on when you want. I'll just upgrade my gun permit"

Emma let out a laugh that was slightly shaky.

"So what was wrong with Walsh—aside from the obvious?"

"I…I…I don't know where to begin"

"Too clingy? Too demanding? Too weedy looking?"

"Actually it was like I looked at him for the first time and didn't like what I saw"

Jack snorted into his wine.

"Been there Em. So been there"

* * *

"He's cool" Henry whispered to him once Killian had gone to the car with Emma. Jack stared at his grandson in disbelief. Killian to him looked like some washed up rocker from a time where he had been young. He certainly didn't look like the kind of man that ran in the same circles as Emma though he supposed he could be her source. He looked at her like she was special however and he looked at Henry as if he knew him. Jack wondered if he had known Neal. He actually didn't believe Emma when she said that the case had nothing to do with her ex. He knew that since she had been out of jail she'd been looking for the guy. He too had been looking for Neal though he suspected that they were looking for him for different reasons.

"Come on kid" he said ruffling Henry's hair. "Let's get into the car"

* * *

Jack and Henry met Emma for lunch at the dinner. It was hard. Ruby made the mistake of getting the coffee and the cocoa right and that raised questions and her very pregnant mother dropped a couple of hints that the two of them went back. Henry might not notice it but the little clues she was sure that Jack was picking up on. Already his eyebrows were at the top of his forehead.

And that was naturally when Regina walked in.

The crash was when she noticed her.

The look on her face was so awful even Emma felt something stir in her. She still struggled to trust the woman but she had to admit that she couldn't see why Regina would put herself through this.

Even so…Regina was the best font of wisdom for the answers to the questions that she wanted answered.

* * *

Regina bolted into the ladies at her office.

Emma was busy trying to relight the fire to the little Bunsen burner that they were using to heat the Eye of Newt that was the new ingredient in the potion they were attempting to remember from scratch. She bit her lip and forced herself to get her emotions under control. She could cry into her pillow tonight. Right now she had to focus on the problem at hand. She could wallow in how her baby had grown tonight.

Henry.

He had gotten so big. And he looked through her in a way that made his painful distrust of her two years ago feel like a distant memory.

And then there was Jack.

God he had gotten more attractive. She knew in that year (well what she could remember anyway) that her feelings had not changed for him whatsoever. Seeing him sat there with his coffee was like going back to the first time that she saw him and she had been Mayor and he had been the man of the woman that she had wanted nothing more than to crush.

She forced herself to breath.

There was a knock at the door.

"Regina? You ready to begin?"

She forced her retort back in as she stared at herself in the mirror without really seeing the image.

Couldn't Swan let her have a damn moment here?

"Yes I'm coming" she said in a passable imitation of her own imperious voice.

She opened the door.

She had work to do.

* * *

 **And there you are, I hope you enjoy and I hope to have the next update for you soon.**

 **Next Chapter-Regina spends time with Jack and Henry though it doesn't help matters. Jack knows when he is being lied to. Snow and Charming make the acquaintance of red headed midwife and Emma tries to embrace who she is and what she can do. **


	30. Red Rag The Bull

**Hi, so here is another chapter and there is another coming straight after this. When both are posted there will be two more chapters of this story left and I hope to get them published sooner rather than later especially because I am soon going back to work and I don't want updating to become few and far between.**

 **Please Read and Review**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 30-Red Rag The Bull

Regina spends time with Henry and Jack though it doesn't help matters. Jack knows when he is being lied too. Snow and Charming make the acquaintance of red headed midwife and Regina tries to help Emma embrace who she is and what she can do.

* * *

Storybrooke turned out to be the small little town that you saw on TV shows Jack thought. The kind where everyone seems lovely and yet there's some big conspiracy going on where you find out that there holding some sort of voodoo ritual in the woods or something. The problem was it was obvious that something was going on and Emma for all her talk that she had never been here before clearly had.

He suspected Neal. It was always bloody Neal with Emma ever since she'd come out of prison. Jack didn't know if she was looking for revenge or a happy ending with him (he knew what he was looking for) but he knew that Neal Cassidy had something to do with his town. It was strange. He had thought that Emma had been honest with him about her time with that man. She had told him they had never gotten this far from Boston but it was clear (even though she was doing her damned best to hide it) that she knew what was going on in this town.

Firstly there was the pregnant woman and her husband who kept shooting him and Henry looks that he didn't like. What he also didn't like were the looks that they shot Emma. It was far too…paternal almost for someone who Emma claimed she had met in prison.

(Banditry? That wasn't even a crime—hadn't been since the war for Independence probably)

Then there was the leather wearing guyliner rock star who spent time telling Henry about his time on a ship probably doing some sort of smuggling and probably drugs though Jack had no proof. After all one thing about a desert war was that he'd never really seen the inside of the Navy.

Then there was the woman in red with the sharply cut bob and the long legs. Jack had to admit that he was impressed by her. She was the mayor Emma told them and though she didn't say it Jack thought that Regina Mills might be the source of information that Emma was looking for.

He still had no idea what the target was and he was beginning to suspect that neither did she. Actually he was beginning to think that this whole thing was a crock that would see he and Henry stuck in a small town forever just after he had gotten used to the noise of a big city.

Jack wouldn't deny that there were upsides of course. The woods were a great place to run though he noticed that Emma was beginning to suggest that he go running with someone who she seemed to know which he just found annoying in the extreme. He'd been in worse places than the woods and he wasn't the kind to have a break down and get lost like some teenager in a horror film.

Not to mention the fact that there was now a commune living in the woods. Jack had seen them a couple of times—he had never gone near them but he'd seen them. He was pretty sure one had a kid and a crossbow which was the kind of thing you'd think Emma's friend David as Sheriff would regulate. Jack didn't feel so bad for carrying his own gun when he saw things like that slide.

Another upside was the fact that that old woman behind the bar of the hotel they were staying in seemed to have his coffee order just right. She knew to make it as black and dark and bitter as humanly possibly which Jack enjoyed and she left him alone when she saw him reading the newspaper which she always seemed to have delivered to his room without him even asking for it. Actually if he'd not known how to read his daughter like a book he would have lived in some sort of ignorance in this town.

However the facts were glaringly obvious.

* * *

Snow had been reading her book folding down the pages with a bit more enthusiasm. The midwife—no—Zelena had, had to dash off after scheduling an appointment with her the following day and she had to admit she felt a lot lighter—almost like her worries had been taken away. It made life easier to know that she wasn't alone. She might not have her memories but she did have her daughter back in her life, and her grandson.

After a year of separation (even if she couldn't remember it) she was glad to see Jack as well. He had been with them in Neverland, he had helped them get Henry back and he had been partially responsible for the saving of the Lost Boys most of whom seemed to have settled down into something near normality. The door to the diner opened just as she stood up and then promptly as she reached for her bag, dropped her book. Before she could even attempt to bend down—which of course she couldn't do anymore someone's hand had come out and picked up the book.

"Here you are Mary-Margaret"

"Hello Jack" she said smiling even as her back screamed in protest from the attempt to bend over.

"You sure you ok?"

"Well I can't see my feet, I'm sweating and panicking over everything and It just seems like…like times gone so fast you know?"

That wasn't even getting to the fact that she couldn't even remember the first eight months. The first time she'd lost the last twenty eight years and this time the eight months. Ironic when you thought about it she had to admit even to herself.

"I get that. Works the same no matter what age they are. I got Emma when she was five and it took me ages to get used to it. Don't worry it's normal. We were both completely clueless too. Makes bonding a hell of a lot easier. Trust me it will be fine. Once you've got a hold of the baby it wont make a difference how much you and your husband know"

She had been told the same thing over and over again (or as much as she could remember) and yet it was nice to hear it from the man who had raised her daughter—twice. Jack had never been the kind of man who liked to beat around the bush and there was something about this conversation that made her remember what it was like in the beginning between her, Jack and David. She hoped that whatever happened next—when everything came out and the curse was broken then they could all remain the causal, somewhat dysfunctional friends. They all had one thing in common after all—they loved Emma and Henry.

"I think that…sometimes I wonder that someone will come in and take the baby"

The minute she said it she felt like an idiot for giving too much away. Honestly. That wasn't going to help keep Jack from thinking that something crazy was going on. Already she was being told by passers by that he was asking all sorts of questions. It had never really taken much for Jack to become suspicious or curious and the whole town was already on edge what with people disappearing left right and centre and being turned into monkeys.

"Why?"

"Worries I guess…hormones you know"

Ok that was lame even for her.

Jack raised another eyebrow. "Alright" he said finally. "If that's the way you want to play it…Emma never mentioned you, you know…and I don't remember seeing you when I went to visit her so…is this whole thing about Neal?"

"Err…" but before she could think of an excuse Jack was nodding his expression set into one that told her that he had understood more than what she was willing to say. There was no point in lying she supposed. This whole thing was about Neal in some way. Neal was still missing and Emma was going to go and find him until she couldn't see him anymore even if Captain Hook was a contender for her daughters heart and a serious one at that.

"Don't worry" he said with an expression that she couldn't name.

"I thought it was down to him"

"He's…look…he…the last time I spoke to him he was trying"

Jack looked at her.

"He left my kid in prison. She was eighteen, scared, pregnant, spent six months convinced he was coming back. All he sent her was some car keys. And I know her…I know there's some shit that went down that she didn't tell me about. And you've seen Henry, he left his kid. I don't know who would do that"

She sucked in a breath. She would be damned if she would let it show how much that jibe (not that in this moment Jack was being deliberate) had hurt.

Instead she would focus on what he was trying to tell her.

Later…once she'd gone home and had a good cry.

Damn pregnancy hormones.

* * *

"Regina"

She closed her eyes. She knew that voice.

She turned because very rarely did she run from a fight and she was not about to start now because Jack Reynolds still had the same light tone when he was speaking to her.

It didn't matter anyway. The Jack that had held her and loved her and kissed her so gently was gone. Just as gone as the son who once upon a time ago had loved her.

She opened her eyes.

Jack was stood there. Henry was at his side and for a second she wondered what they were both doing there before reality came crashing down around her.

There was a reason they were there after all.

She had promised them both a tour of the town which was in a way a shameless way of getting some time alone with Henry and Emma had (probably not been thinking about the pain upon pain that it was adding to her) insisted that Jack come along for the ride out of protection. She didn't care. She had spent a morning trying to speed up a process that should quite rightly take years to get the hang off. Even if Emma Swan didn't make her want to tear her hair out teaching her magic was just adding fuel to the fire at this point.

And all they got to show for it was a measly bridge. She could hear Rumple now in her head and she had to bite hard on her bottom lip to hide the smile.

"Good morning" she said drawing on every cell of courage that she possessed to get through this one.

"Good morning" Henry said back his face dimpling in a way that made her want to bend and kiss it like she had done so many times when he was little.

Jack smiled at her that same tired, crinkled but warm smile and Regina imagined for a second a life where she had not been forced to make this choice and had a shot of being happy.

All in all it wasn't a bad life.

But happiness was not carved out for her whatsoever so instead she put on her most charming smile and prepared herself for an hour alone with the son that didn't remember her and the man that she loved who thought of her as the cold and unfeeling stranger.

In hindsight it was probably a stupid thing for him to do.

Knocking on the Mayor's door at eleven at night but Jack had been too restless and too desperate to care. He knew he was being lied too. Emma was becoming increasingly worse and there was only so much of the Nolan's a man could take in one afternoon. Seriously if this was going to get much worse then he was going to have to insist that he take Henry and go back to New York.

But this itch under his skin that told him that he was missing something had driven him to her door.

It wasn't hard to find. It was the biggest house in town after all.

Regina Mills opened the door dressed in a pair of loose jeans and a silk top that made him stare at her for longer than was strictly polite.

"I'm gonna pretend that I don't know that you, Emma and the insipid pregnant couple she's shacked up with are lying to me. I'm going to pretend that I'm going back to New York after this and I'm going to pretend that Neal Cassidy isn't somehow tied up in this and I'm gonna do something that might be considered stupid. If you don't want it tell me politely and I will walk away and when we next see each other in the morning I will pretend that it doesn't happen"

Regina watched him and then nodded her eyes a little bit wider and her pupils a little bit more blown. Jack however didn't register much after that because he leaned forwards at that point and kissed her.

For a second she stared at him as if she was having some sort of discussion with herself about what she was going to do next and then as if she had stopped that train of thought, Regina leaned forwards and kissed him long and slow with a hint of something he couldn't quite but his finger on and then led him inside and into the start of something that Jack was pretty sure (without knowing why) he had never had a chance to finish.

* * *

 **And there you are, I hope you enjoy, next chapter to follow this one.**

 **Next Chapter-** **In which the identity of the Wicked Witch is revealed, Jack wants to go, Henry wants to stay, Emma wants a bit of peace and Neal decides to commit the ultimate sacrifice.**


	31. Intersecting Lives

**Hi, so this is the second part of a double posting. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will endeavour to update sooner rather than later.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 31-Intersecting Lives.

In which the identity of the Wicked Witch is revealed, Jack wants to go, Henry wants to stay, Emma wants a bit of peace and Neal decides to commit the ultimate sacrifice.

* * *

Regina had received a phone call in the morning which had made her jump out of bed. She had told Jack to help himself to her fridge contents and then had ran out. All in all he supposed, he'd had worse mornings.

He made himself some coffee and thought about what he was going to do next. He wanted to go back to New York—this town was stifling and it was dragging him down. He had no idea what was going on with his daughter or what this case was that she was supposed to be working on but he knew well enough to know that he didn't want either himself or Henry around when the shit hit the fan. He could feel the itching under his skin that told him that something was going on and there was only so long he could be lied too. He would give Emma the day and then when he saw her tonight he would tell her flat out that if she wanted him here she was going to have to tell him the truth.

He took a mouthful of coffee from one of Regina's china mugs. He stared at her cupboard for a second. There were child mugs in here, mugs a teenager would use all garish and bright with words and images stamped on them. Funny…he had been unaware that Regina had had a child.

For some reason that idea wouldn't shake him regardless of what he had planned for the day.

And that was simply just tracking down his daughter.

Killian was just watching Belle fiddle around with that car thingy (both of them were a bit unsure about what the hell they were supposed to be doing but Belle assured him she knew the basics) when he got the feeling he was being watched. He turned around and nearly rammed his hook into the paint of the car. He twisted it so it was behind his back—he should learn to wear his prosthetic more but the damn thing hurt after a while.

Jack was staring at him.

"Where's Emma" he said finally.

"Hospital" Belle said. Killian shot her a look, it wasn't her fault he supposed that she had not been included in Swan's elaborate lie that she was telling her father but he supposed that she still didn't want him to know.

Jack stared at him for a second.

"And where is Neal?" he said finally.

Killian blinked. He was not aware that Swan had gotten that far with her story.

"Err…"

"Don't bother" Jack said finally. "I know enough."

And with that he swept off leaving the two of them standing there with the same sinking feeling no doubt that they had just made a very awkward situation a thousand times worse.

Jack ran into Henry in the dinner. He had no idea what he was doing but he knew that if he didn't get a chance to speak to Emma and to demand an explanation to what the fuck was going on. But his grandson was sat at the table cocoa in hand and a newspaper in the other and that was enough to force Jack to a skidding stop. Henry did not do newspapers. Henry did the IPad until it was forced out of his hands because dinner was on the table. He stared for a second suddenly aware that out of the corner of his eye, Granny, her granddaughter and some grumpy man whose name he didn't know who always demanded crispy bacon were all strategically placed between Henry and the door. He gritted his teeth. He really did hate being lied too.

Especially by Emma who had never really been able to do it right when it came to him.

"Hey kiddo" he said sitting down. Granny came over without Jack even turning around with his coffee that was as dark and bitter as Jack suspected certain organs in his body were and Jack smiled at her. He wondered how she knew his exact coffee order despite the fact that they had been in this town less than a week but that was only a small question on his list right about now.

"Hey Grandpa. What do you think of this house? We all get our own bedrooms and a bathroom each which includes a backyard and a kitchen with a washer and a dryer in the same place."

"I think that's nothing short of a miracle at those prices. Also this house is two blocks away and I was under the impression we lived in New York"

Henry bit his lip. Jack could feel the migraine coming on and he resisted the urge to smack his head into the shiny tables that he could see his reflection in.

"Would it be so bad if we stayed though? I feel like there's something here that reminds me of home, I vaguely recognise things and Mom seems to like it too when she's not dashing off all the time. Besides it's a smaller school and there are no metal detectors in the doorway or security guards and you know how much that used to bug you in the city…plus…I feel like I've been here before, I like it. Everything's slower and I can have more freedom"

Jack stared at him. He had always known that his grandson had been perceptive, hell Emma had always been able to read him like a book even when she had only known him for five or six hours and he wasn't surprised that her son had inherited the strange superpower. But he was surprised that Henry considered this a good thing. Jack had never been one for small and enclosed spaces unless he had something worth sticking around to face the mess. He took another gulp of coffee to distract himself.

"Henry we've only just done a move and that one was long and complicated and most things went in the fire. And next year you start High School, It's not a great time to change everything up—if you want you can come here for the summer I'm sure Emma wouldn't mind that but…I don't think even with an amazingly cheep house like that one we can leave our lives in New York and come to live in this town permanently"

Henry pouted. It made him look so much like his father that Jack had too look away forcing himself to keep his expression under control. After all it was not Henry's fault that Emma had lied to him and he had caught her in the lie.

"Henry your not a kid anymore, don't do that. Your Mom has a case to do and then were gone"

He didn't say it out loud but he suspected that if Neal got wind of Henry and kicked up a fuss they'd have to leave quickly. Jack would be damned if the man who had caused so much hurt to his daughter got his hooks in to his grandson.

They finished their coffee and cocoa in comfortable silence because that was how they operated. Jack shot another look at the paper from the strange angle and shrugged to himself—shame really—it was a really nice-looking house.

* * *

The walk through the forest was quiet. Neal beside her was quiet. He had not said much to her since she had told him that she didn't want Henry to know about him, since she had admitted to him (and by association herself) that she didn't want him to remember his father. He had not said much since he had correctly assumed that she would be going back to New York. Emma was glad he wasn't pressing the main issue which was Regina. Even her parent's disappointment and rage would pale in insignificance compared to what Regina would do when she got wind of what was going on. Emma would be lucky to face the Wicked Witch instead of the full blown Evil Queen.

"You know" Neal said finally into the silence. "I've had a long life. Everyone I've ever grown up with is dead. My friends, my playmates. They used to take children you know in the Ogre Wars. The sky used to be red with the blood coming from the trenches. I've lost more friends to that war than I ever did to my father and he stopped it all. It was a Duke who planned it. Your grandparents didn't do much to stop it either when I remember. Then there were the Darlings and a Land Without Magic and I lost them, I lost the chance to be with a man that did love my mother admittedly and I spent years alone as a teenager on an island where there was no escape…and then there was you. I've had a long life teeming with regrets and with loss and yet I don't think that there has ever been anything I have regretted more than I have regretted not coming back for you"

Emma had to look away and force her feet to keep walking. She could accept that for what it was. A sincere apology from the man that she had loved for so long. And yet it didn't matter—because there had never been a choice for Neal just like there had never been a choice for her. Both of their lives had been ruined by some other substance—magic and the power of True Love and other shit that Emma was still not entirely sure she believed in. Her entire existence was The Saviour. She had, had the whole world on her shoulders before she'd even been able to shrug them. She had learnt the hard way to live with that when she'd been on Neverland.

But she would be damned if Henry would live the same life.

He deserved something normal. Jack deserved something normal. Indeed how long could she continue to ask her father (who despite his insistences was not getting any younger) to run around fighting Queen's and Lost Boys and green witches all of whom wanted to take her down. If she took herself off the chessboard didn't that make Storybrooke a little less dangerous for the ordinary inhabitants who on more than one occasion had their lives ripped apart because of something that she or a member of her family had done?

Or was she rationalising this the wrong way, was all of this about making the right excuse to her parents?

"You know…I wish there was a way Jack could see me as a good man. He's a good man you know" Neal continued almost wistfully. "He's so uncomplicated that it was a shock when I met him. I've been so used to people using me for their own ends it was difficult to meet a man who disliked me after I had done something stupid and not before."

"He knows you're a good man." Emma relented somewhat. "In Neverland at least he acknowledged that you were they're for the right reasons. But this time it's different. You see…this time I was never shy about finding it difficult to let you go"

They carried on walking in silence. At least until Neal collapsed.

And that was when (for about the hundredth time) Emma's world came crashing down around her.

* * *

He found Emma at the apartment. Henry was with her and he walked a little slowly. Emma had told him that he needed to go and meet Mary Margaret at the apartment and stay there because the case was heating up but Mary Margaret had gone the second she'd got a text from her husband and Jack felt the anger he had been sitting on for so long bubble dangerously under the surface.

But it died a slow death the minute that he got a good look at Emma.

Something had happened here.

Something terrible had happened here.

Henry went upstairs and Jack stood up wondering when his legs had gone to stone all of a sudden. He really did think he was getting too old for this.

"You were right. It was about Neal. He asked me to investigate something and…and now the lead…she killed him"

She said in a rush as if the words were knives forcing themselves out of her mouth and Jack paused taking it in.

Neal Cassidy was dead.

He had to admit that it surprised him. A part of him had always thought that Neal was like a bug that you couldn't kill—the bane of his existence and a consummate survivor. He didn't know what to make of it.

Emma's face crumpled and Jack caught her a bit as she fell. She clearly had never gotten over her feelings towards him and she clung a little his jumper like she had done when she was little and she cried herself to sleep over some silly bad dream or when Henry had been a kid and she cried herself to sleep over this very man she was still crying over.

He couldn't say anything in that moment that would make sense to Emma. Hell his own feelings didn't make sense to himself. He knew however that once she was ready then he would inevitably bring the conversation back to what they were doing here and why they were always waiting it seemed for another thing to drop on them.

And one way or another Jack was going to get the answers that he wanted.

Weather or not he would believe them…

Well…he didn't know it then but that would be another story.

Neal's death he knew was just the beginning and nothing…nothing was ever going to be the same again.

* * *

 **And there you are. I hope you enjoy this chapter-I will update sooner rather later.**

 **Next Chapter-Emma desperately tries to make Henry believe. Jack wants to get to the truth about what the hell is going on in this town. Zelena takes away Emma's magic and a battle with flying monkeys ensures. Penultimate chapter. **


	32. Ignite On Contact

**Hi, so here is another chapter. This one is the penultimate chapter to the story. I apologise for the lateness but work has been hectic. With any luck I will be able to publish the last chapter sooner rather than later.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 32-Ignite On Contact.

Emma desperately tries to make Henry believe. Jack wants to get to the truth about what is going on in this town. Zelena takes away Emma's magic and a battle with flying monkeys sees events taken to a head. Penultimate chapter.

* * *

Neal's funeral was held on a Tuesday. Jack went because Emma had asked him too but he couldn't help but wish he was somewhere else. He had no idea what was going on in this town or what Emma was going to do next or even how Neal had died but he knew enough to know he was seconds away from taking Henry throwing him in the car and going back to New York. Also he felt slightly hypocritical when it came to the funeral because he had for a long time wished Neal dead. And now he was.

Actually all in all it was quite ironic.

Emma was taking this a lot harder for a woman who'd had no history with this man for the last twelve years. The whole town seemed to be in mourning which was strange because Jack had been here for a month and had, had no idea that Neal was even living in it.

And then there was the reception which had ended up with Emma sending her son into the care of that one handed leather clad Rockstar wannabe and sending Jack with him as if she wanted him out the way. Henry did not take that well which had of course resulted in a row. Jack leaned against the back wall of the diner and watched. This was a fight that Henry could do with seeing through on his own and he was sure as shit not gonna help Emma when he wanted the answers that she was refusing to give.

"Dad will you just take him?" she ended up shouting at him.

Something however made him look sideways in that moment. Something made him look to the two friends that Emma had claimed that she had known from prison. There was a tightening in their expressions—especially David Nolan's when she used that moniker. It didn't make sense—if David Nolan had been a bit older…then maybe…

He shook his head and forced himself to look at his daughter.

"You have tonight to tell me the truth and then I'm taking Henry and I'm going back to New York—there's something here Em don't even think about lying about it. And there's something that puts my teeth on edge and if you don't want to tell me fine but you don't get to string that kid along while you lie to him about a man that he considered a dead-beat until a week ago"

And with that he turned around and followed his grandson through the diner and out the backdoor missing completely the sound of claws pattering on the roof and something taking flight into the clouds above.

* * *

There was snow falling on the ground as they went to the docks. His grandfather was angry about something. Henry had heard him through the door and he knew enough to know that if his mother didn't tell the truth the next morning they would be in their old apartment in New York.

Henry wasn't sure how he felt about this. There was something about Storybrooke that felt like home to him and he couldn't understand why—the same way he couldn't understand why the loss of his father, a man who admittedly he had never known and had, had very little (good) opinion towards had hurt him so much. He had always done well with his grandfather who had done all of the father-son things with him, who had been the recipient of school's homemade father's day cards on more than one occasion because there had never been anyone to give them too. Henry had also learnt years ago never to ask about his father because him Mom got sad and his grandfather got angry. He couldn't help but feel the way his grandfather was feeling…like there was a big part of the puzzle missing and he couldn't understand why his Mom was lying to them about it.

Killian Jones was cool but he didn't manage to take his mind of it. The snow didn't help either, since when did it snow at this time of the year?

And then there was the feeling that Henry couldn't shake—that he was being watched.

He had no idea what was going on here and it made him huddle closer to his grandfather who he noticed was wearing his gun on his hip again and probably had a few more back up weapons stashed somewhere on his person. Henry knew it and he found that it made him safe.

And then suddenly without warning the damn broke and there was something coming out of the sky towards them screaming some horrible sound that had his grandfather reaching for his gun without a second thought and Killian Jones reaching for a short and rather wicked looking knife that Henry was sure must be on a list of things that you had to have a permit for.

The thing came closer and what he saw made his jaw drop because what was this an extract from the Wizard of Oz? Since when did monkeys fly?

But he didn't get a chance to dwell on that because at that moment his grandfather was pushing him back towards the boatshed shooting with a frightening accuracy that told Henry that he'd probably been at the firing range more than he had let on.

He didn't care.

And then out of nowhere his mother was there with her gun, her friend with another long sword like weapon and then the Mayor, Regina who waved her hand as if it was easy and then…fire came out of it.

"What the fuck?" he said to his grandfather who was staring with much the same expression. Henry knew it was bad when his grandfather didn't chastise him for using the language that back in New York who get him a smack on the back of the head and his phone taken off him.

Instead he buried his head down and tried to pretend it wasn't happen.

He didn't know what to believe.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to believe this.

* * *

It was now or never.

That much was clear, both her father and her son had seen too much for her to explain this away. She might have hoped that she could defeat Zelena without anyone finding out—without her magic now but she knew that the game was up.

It was time for Emma to face the music.

Hopefully her father and her son would let her finish before thinking her completely mad. Hopefully Henry was still full of the same believe that he had been before the curse had hit them a year ago.

Hopefully…hope…

God this was bad if she was hoping. Emma didn't hold out much believe in hope, those first five years in the Foster System had done the work on that but this time she desperately needed the two of them to believe—to understand what had happened here—to know that she had not put them in danger on a whim.

Henry took the book and looked at her as if she was mad. Jack she couldn't even look at. She remembered with painful clarity how he had been in the first curse. Had known that it had took him time to comprehend that the world she should have lived in was real. And then the second he had started to believe they'd had to flee the town.

She didn't know what to do now.

Fortunately Regina seemed to.

Of course it was True Love's Kiss. True Love's Kiss had broken the last curse.

Why, why had Emma not thought of that sooner?

And yet as soon as she had thought that thought she knew…because a part of her still wanted to believe that she was still the only woman who had that kind of bond with Henry. That the relationship she had was more superior to the one that Regina had.

Also what this meant for her status as the Saviour she didn't want to think.

Studiously she ignored Hook's eyes and went to Jack's side. He was staring out of focus for a moment that seemed to stretch forever and she had a moment of complete and utter panic where she wondered if he was having a stroke. After all her father was not getting any younger and still she was pulling the rug out from under him time and time again.

"You ok?" she asked him quietly.

Jack nodded his gaze (mercifully) coming back into focus.

"I'm gonna need a minute…actually I'm gonna need several days probably"

Emma nodded. Jack had started this morning thinking for the second time that the world in which he lived in was normal and had seen it crumble beneath his feet within seconds. She wanted to tell him that it was going to be all alright but she knew that it wasn't.

There was a lot of mess that had to be sorted out and she wasn't sure where to begin. The main issue had to be defeating Zelena and then after that…how could she begin to explain the need to take her family back to New York—to leave Storybrooke and never look back.

Regina alone would throw a fit.

She closed her eyes and leaned a little on her father's arm and wished that Hook had never shown up at her apartment that day and had left her to her normal life.

* * *

That night seemed to stretch forever. They had had dinner at the diner and Jack had ate what was in front of him trying to pretend that he was happy to remember when in fact he felt tired and sluggish like he was coming up to the end of a tour and he couldn't help but wonder about weather or not he could keep putting one foot in front of the other. His head was throbbing and it seemed the laughter of all the people around him—thrilled no doubt that they could stop the lying that they'd been forced to do for months on end. Jack didn't care. He could barely see them.

He needed to go upstairs and sleep or at least try to sleep. Today had wreaked havoc on his adrenaline which had gone up and down in a way that would have made the man in his twenties that he had once been struggle—never mind the man who he was now.

And then there was his brain which refused to shut off.

 _God if Snow White laughed like that once more he was going to snap. The sound set his teeth on edge._

He felt someone reach out and touch his arm. He looked up from the food he was barely eating and saw Regina flash him a small smile. He managed something back that was barely a grimace and then ducked his expression downwards. He wasn't sure what to do now. For the first time in his life he was hopelessly helpless. It had not been like this after the First Curse had been broken of that he was sure off. He was a year older and his reflexes were slower. He knew his feelings for Regina had not changed whatsoever but he knew that his feeling about magic and about the shit that went down in this town would take some getting used to…he didn't trust easily and for the second time his world had been upended.

And then there was the fact that someone…no…the Wicked Witch of the West was around and trying to steal the magical baby of Snow White and Prince Charming.

He stood up. Everyone looked at him.

"I'm going to go to bed…it's been a long day and I need to sleep"

If he was being honest with himself he doubted that they would miss him very much.

He turned around not waiting for anyone to say anything hearing the laughter and the chatter carrying on behind him.

He wanted nothing more to do than to get away from it all.

Jack completely missed the way that Regina's eyes followed him up the stairs as if she wanted nothing more than to follow him.

He doubted it would have changed anything right now.

He collapsed into bed and tried to sleep knowing that there was something out there and that nothing he could do could stop it from coming for him and the people that he loved.

* * *

 **And there you are. I hope you enjoyed this. Next chapter will be as soon as possible.**

 **Next Chapter-Final Chapter of this Story. Emma and Jack try to figure out and accept who they both are and how far they've come. Emma goes back to the past in an attempt to build a future and this story ends on something of a happy ever after. **


	33. Spellbound

**Hi, so here is the FINAL CHAPTER of this story! I am so happy that i got this chapter out and finished this story and i really hope that you all like this conculsion, it was always my intentiont that this story would finish at Season 3 and therefore i am happy to bring this to a conclusion.**

 **I would like to say thank you to the many of you who have read and reviewed and favourited and followed this story. Over the course of the year i have wrote these 33 chapters it has been a source of strength for me.**

 **I am taking a short break from the OUAT Fandom and i hope to return shortly where i will try my hand at a new story and a new pairing.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing but Jack in this story has ever been mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)

Chapter 33-Spellbound

Emma and Jack try to figure out and accept who they are and how far they've come on this journey. Emma goes back to the past in an attempt to gain a better future and this story ends on something like a happy ever after. Final Chapter of this Story!

* * *

David couldn't think. He couldn't even work his brain into something that had an answer as to what was going to happen next. She had taken his son.

It was happening again.

And the pain and the fury and the agony that rent through him sent him spiralling from the room with his sword desperate.

Emma had no magic, Hook had one hand, Regina had been bested by the woman time and time again and Gold was under her control. And then there was the baby he had never gotten to hold. The baby that was the final ingredient in some spell that would rip the whole course of his existence apart.

And beyond that it was his baby.

And it was gone.

Again.

And that would not fucking stand.

He was in such a rush, ignoring both Regina and Emma's pleas that he stop and think about what to do for just one second that he didn't realise where he was going until he collided into something hard. He pulled his hand back to deck whoever was standing in his way but the person slid to the side as if he had known what was coming.

David looked up. Oh joy.

It was Jack.

Well…that was just all he needed.

* * *

In hindsight this was not where he intended to be. There was a moment where he had taken stock of that and then he had been in the same car as Emma, Captain Hook and Regina all of whom seemed to make it perfectly clear that they were not in the mood for conversation. Which was good because Jack was not in the mood for it either.

He had come to the hospital at Henry's urging. His grandson had sent him a text message to tell him that the baby was on the way and curiosity and a grain of calculation had seen him go to the room only to have David crash into him coming out the room looking as if someone had died. Jack wondered weather or not he had looked like that in the aftermath of putting Emma through the portal thingy and sending her into this world and he couldn't help but feel sympathy for the man. The three of them were once again in this together and either way losing a child was not something Jack would wish on his worst enemy.

And Snow White and Prince Charming were not his worst enemies.

So here he was heading to some sort of barn with his gun that he wished in hindsight he had cleaned out probably because that always helped him to prepare going into this situation mentally at least. He gripped the weapon—actually if he'd had his sniper gun with him then he would have preferred that even more. Nonetheless he knew some of what he was walking into. This was an ambush as far as Zelena was concerned. After all he had done that before.

Providing of course neither David, Emma or Regina did anything stupid then of course there was a way out of this in which they could all survive.

And with that Jack double checked his gun and walked through into the barn to stop a madwoman from killing a baby in order to change both her past and the future.

* * *

The baby was safe…no her brother was safe…that had to mean something. All of this had to mean something. And it was a good way to end it. Her parents had their second chance she had hers. Of course Emma didn't want to think of another reason why she would want to stay in Storybrooke (namely the leather clad pirate that she was dealing with) but she found that she could see this out.

Even if it did feel wrong.

As if he could hear what she was thinking, or even what she was going through in that moment Jack stood up next to her from where he was leaning against the wall. Zelena had caught them all with a very nasty blow to the back of the barn wall and while her other father had managed to shake it off her mortal and very real world father had not.

"You Ok?" she asked finally watching Henry coo over the baby boy.

"Nothing that will kill me" Jack said grimly. "It's a sweet picture I suppose. I gather from the way Henry is reacting that you haven't told him that your planning on going back to New York when all of this calms down…and considering you still have a face I'm guessing Regina doesn't either.

There was a heartbeat of pause.

"Oh bloody hell Emma…this is exactly what you were going to do the last time and it ended up with Henry nearly dying"

"Did I miss something? Do you want to stay or something? I'd have thought that getting out of Storybrooke was exactly what you wanted"

Jack paused and Emma could see the cogs turning a little in his head and then he shook it slowly from side to side. "If you want to stay then I will stay, if you want to go I will go…but there's no easy way now Henry has his memories in which you can detangle yourself. Regina and this town are a part of his life now no matter how happy he was in New York. Perhaps it's time we all accepted how much this place is ingrained in us and try and see if there's a way forwards for us"

"And you want to stay with Regina" Emma said and then winced for it had been a bit snide. Jack didn't rise to the bait however he simply regarded her with a long look that she had seen twice in two respective lives. Once when she had told him she wanted to give Henry up for adoption and then again when she had told him that she wanted to keep him.

"Yes" he said simply. "I'm lonely Emma, I've never had a lot of love in my life and neither has she. We understand each other in the same way that Captain Hook tries to understand you and in a way that Neal did too" He rolled his eyes at this point. "It's time" he said carefully as if he had thought on these words more than anything. "That we both stop running—I think that we both accept that we are in this…well whatever this is together. This town, this family, this life. I don't see another way that doesn't hurt us all and I'm tired of the rug being pulled out from under me"

There was a pause that lasted between the two of them for a very long time and then the moment was broken when her father asked them with eyes that seemed to be far older than he was if they would, like to see the baby. Jack smiled and Emma was left to wonder and not for the first time what it was that she was scared of. Because she knew, deep down that something had happened today or perhaps a long time ago that had made the three people who had all in some way made her who she was gel together in a way that she had never seen before. The problem was not them, the problem was her and the fact that her two worlds that had been separate for a long time were clashing together in a way that she was really not prepared for.

* * *

The day after was a mess. It was the ending of something and the beginning of something that nobody could name and looking back they didn't say or see what it was. They woke up—all of them good and bad to the knowledge that Zelena was dead and they ended their day with something that could have been peace. Or at the very least a long stretch of peace. Regina was not sure a town like Storybrooke could ever have peace true peace. That would mean winning a battle the likes of which she had never seen before.

But right now they had an interlude of peace. Her sister the sister she had never known existed was dead. Regina was unsure how she felt about that. Deep down she wondered if Zelena would ever change or if the envy that had turned her green would have burnt her up. Revenge and envy, the two things that Cora had taught her daughters weather present or absent were the most important things to cling too. How much had they missed out on in their childhoods? Love. Peace. Happiness.

It made her kind of broody. Snow was in the diner showing her baby off, Henry was looking up houses, Swan and the Pirate had gone off somewhere and she was sitting in the local bar with a glass of whiskey and wondering what the hell she was going to do now she wasn't mayor and now she wasn't consumed with revenge.

"You know drinking alone isn't always a good thing" A voice to her left said and she turned to see Jack watching her with that slow smile on his face. She smiled back.

"Can I help you?" she asked finally.

"Yes you can, because when were on that boat with the Lost Boys and the shadows and we knew that we had achieved the impossible I said that I would take you to dinner and you said you'd like that. And now I remember so…if you have nothing on this afternoon before we go to this naming ceremony do you want to grab a late lunch"

Regina stared at him for a second and then took a leap of the ledge. It was time she thought to herself no matter how much it hurt, to let go of the boy she had loved and turn her attention to the man who was holding out his hand for her.

"Alright" she said and she knew that she was smiling the same as he.

* * *

How long she and Hook sat in the dirt at that old farmhouse she didn't know. The whole thing had taken probably taken hours and yet it had felt like weeks she had been in that realm. That realm that she belonged too and yet she had felt nothing for. And she was sure she was going to need to take a look at the damage that corset thing had done to her ribs. She felt like her organs had rearranged themselves.

"You alright?" Hook asked standing up and brushing dirt of his coat as if he time travelled every other day.

"Yeah" Emma said wincing as she stood up. "I think I might have just had an revelation."

"Oh" Hook said as if she had just confessed to having an illness. "What about?"

"About…everything. Come on. I've got some people to speak too"

* * *

"Time travel?" Jack said once she'd told the story to him and to her parents. "Oh I really have heard it all now"

"Gotta admit it's a new one for me as well" her Dad said watching her. "All along Zelena didn't need our baby. Huh"

Emma nodded before she plunged into the speech that she had been rehearsing in her head for some time and before she changed her mind.

"What I'm trying to say is that I get it now…that I'm all of your daughter. That the three of you raised me and loved me in your own ways despite what's gone on before and I want us all to be a family"

There was a silence. "Yeah Em we kinda came to that conclusion a while ago" Jack said smirking.

"You did?"

"Well in Neverland we knew that you loved all of us and we sort of accepted that we'd have to get along. It was rather simple from that. Why do you think we were trying so hard even when Jack didn't have his memories?" Her Mom pointed out.

"Also your banditry/prison story was a see through as a glass window. I kinda figured that something was going on. Didn't think they were your parents of course but I did think maybe brother or sister. Besides once the memories came coming back and I got wind the baby was taken it all seemed kinda pointless. What do you think that I was trying to tell you when we were at the hospital. It's time to move on. We all love you and we all want to be a part of your life same as you and Regina. Best way to do that is to be friends"

Emma blinked rather rapidly touched beyond words. She was not a woman to be overcome by a moment of sentimentality and she found that she had anticipated the problem with more worry than what was needed.

"Oh" she said softly.

Her Dad took that moment to take the baby and get everyone's attention. Regina took his empty seat next to Jack. Emma noticed that the two of them were holding hands. Gold sat in the corner with Belle looking tired though managing to have a conversation with his grandson. She thought that perhaps if Gold kept to his end of the bargain a relationship might strike up between the two of them who had not seen Neal in those final days but were both secure in the love that the other man had felt.

She felt a hand tough her shoulder and turned to see Hook…no Killian staring at her with that soft smile that made her heart turn upside down.

There was a pause as she stood there and then she reached out taking a chance on something that she had thought she'd never get, she took the edge of Killian's fingers and squeezed them. It wasn't much, but it was a start. It was a start of something new and real.

It was at this moment Emma Swan looked around and took stock of everyone that was here, everything that had happened and every possibility that could happen in the future.

It was here she realised that she had a family.

It was here that she realised that life right now, was good.

* * *

 **And again a massive thank you to all of you. I hope you enjoy. **


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